1585. SWISHER (JAMES) How I Know, or, Sixteen Years Eventful Ex- 
perience. An Authentic Narrative embracing a record of hazardous enterprises, 
thriUing adventures and narrow escapes on the western frontier; among the Mor- 
mons, the miners and the Indians. Portrait and plates. 384 pp., 8vo, cloth. Cin- 
cinnati: Printed by the Author, 1880. 25.00 

Very Scarce. Swisher's party was ambushed by the Navajoes in the San Re Nado Pass, New 
Mexico. With the exception of the author and four of his companions, the entire company was wiped 
out. His narrative details the incidents of the journey across the plains to Utah; the Mountain Mea- 
dow massacre; onward to California; early mining experiences, etc. 





H 





James Swisher. 



HOW I KNOW, 



OR 



SIXTEEN YEARS' EVENTFUL EXPERIENCE. 

AN ^ 

AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, 



EMBRACING 



A BRIEF RECORD OF SERIOUS AND SEVERE SERVICE ON THE BATTLE-FIELDS 
OF THE south; A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HAZARDOUS ENTERPRISES, 
THRILLING ADVENTURES, NARROW ESCAPES, AND DIRE DISASTERS 
ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER AND IN THE WILDS OF THE WEST; 
LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS, THE MINERS, AND THE IN- 
DIANS; THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE OF 

THE GREAT WEST; THE WONDERFUL GRANDEUR 
AND BEAUTY OF ITS SCENERY AND ITS LAND- 
SCAPES; ITS GREAT MINERAL AND AGRI- 
CULTURAL resources; a glance at 

THE MORE important EVENTS IN 
ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOP- 
MENT, ETC., ETC. 

By JAMES SWISHER. 



lllustljcltEfl. 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR: 
CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

1880. 






Copyright, 1880, by James Swisher. 



15 4^ 



PRESS OF 

Jones Brothers & Co, 

CINCINNATI. 



Comp. and Electrotyped "^^^ 

BY 

Campbell & Company, 

CINCINNATI, o. 



> 



I HAVE written this book, not because I make any 
pretensions as an author or writer, but at the earnest 
request of many of my friends in different parts of the 
country, who have urged me to prepare and pubhsh an 
account of my travels and experiences. 

I have thought it unnecessary to speak, except in 
the briefest manner possible, of my experiences in the 
Civil War. I have said enough on this subject, how- 
ever, to vividly recall to the minds of my comrades- 
in-arms the thrilHng incidents of those dark days, and 
to awaken the memory of the keen interest and the 
trembling apprehension with which the dire conflict 
was viewed from the thousands of homes and firesides, 
by mother, wife and sister. 

I have been vain enough to hope that my book 
may not be entirely devoid of interest to those who 
love such grandly magnificent and beautiful works of 
Nature as are to be seen in so many places in the 
West. Of these I have given such glimpses and de- 
scriptions as the limits of the book and my ability as 
a writer would allo^v. 

Of the Mormons, Indians, miners, and other classes 
of people of which I speak, I say only such things as 
I have learned by personal association and observation. 



JU 



IV PRE FA CE. 

Although in some cases my account may not be com- 
plete and exhaustive, yet I think it will be always in- 
teresting and valuable from the fact that it is reliable. 

In what I have said of the mining and agricultural 
resources and the commercial interests of the West, I 
have been guided by an extensive and varied experi- 
ence, and a wide opportunity for observation. I have 
been laborer, lumberman, explorer, guide, traveler, 
prospector, miner, hunter, Indian-fighter, government 
surveyor and civil engineer, freighter, herder, stock- 
broker, and transient sojourner. In one or another of 
these capacities I have visited nearly every portion of 
the West, and consequently know whereof I speak. 

I do not expect to escape criticism. I am well 
aware that I am in great need of it. Still I hope that 
those who read this book will belong to that class of 
true critics who endeavor, as far as possible, to seek out 
that which is commendable and praiseworthy, and to 
overlook that which is imperfect and incomplete. I can 
but express the hope that each one who reads the book 
may derive some little benefit from what I have written. 

In conclusion, it is but proper that I should here 
express my sincere thanks to Messrs. Jones Brothers 
& Co., Cincinnati, for the generous kindness w^ith 
which they have afforded me every needed assistance 
and facility for the proper printing, binding and illus- 
tration of my book. Their friendly favors shall ever be 
held in most grateful remembrance. 

J. S. 

January^ iSSo. 




iWliM 



'£. 



£. 



^r^ 



"^ 






7^\^ 



CHAPTER I. — WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS. 

Birth-place — Joins the Army — Sketch of the Twentieth Corps — Battles 
of Lookout Alountain, Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca — Capture of Pine Knob — 
Kenesaw Mountain — Peach Tree Creek — Siege of Atlanta — The "March to 
the Sea" — Savannah occupied — Devastation of the "Mother of Secession" — 
Pursuit of Johnston's flying Forces — The Surrender at Raleigh — Homeward — 
The grand Review at Washington — Home and Friends. . . . 11-25 

CHAPTER II. UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 

The "Western Fever" — In a Utah mining Camp — Situation of Utah — The 

Mormons — Mountain Meadow Massacre — Bishop S 's " Revelations " — A 

horrible Outrage — Murder of D. P. Smith — Another Instance of Mormon 
Atrocity — Nationality of the Mormons — Adobe Houses — Practical Polygamy 
— Scenery in Utah — Hot and cold Springs — Irrigation — Mountains and Des- 
erts — Grass, Cattle and Timber — Mining — Early Mining Experiences — Sinks 
a Shaft, and some Money — The Webster Lode — General Reflections. . 26-44 

CHAPTER III.— NEVADA. 

Nevada for a Change — Carson City — Lake Tahoe — Mining Fever again — 
Stock-speculator — The Comstock Mines — The Narrow Guage Railroad — The 
long Flume — Heat and Water in the Mines — Ventilation — The Sutro Tunnel 
— Climate of Nevada — Stock and Farming — Hot Springs — Alkali — The 
brackish Water. .......... 45-53 

CHAPTER IV.— CALIFORNIA. 

From Carson City to San Francisco — The Enchanting Scenery — Donner 
Lake — Pulpit Rock — Sad Story of the Donner Family — Indian Tradition — In 
the old Mining District — Virgin Gold — Geological History — Theories — Placer 
Mining — Some big Nuggets — Northward — TheYosemiteVallev — The "Garden 
of the Gods"— Nevada Fall— The Giant Trees— California Vegetables— The 
Golden City — Its Splendor and Magnificence — Fertile Valleys and Immense 
Crops — The Seasons — Stock-raising— Grape Culture — Drawbacks — Something 
of a Shake — Volcanic and Desert Regions — The Earthquake of 1S72. . 54-74 

CHAPTER v.— THE CHINESE. 

The Chinese — Their Appearance — Their Dress — Their Numbers — ISIost 
of Them in Servitude — The Six Companies — Low Wages — Idol Worship — A 
Law unto Themselves — The Chinese Qiiarter — Coolies — Legislation — General 
Review of California Resources — Wealth ^er capita — Commercial Enterprises 
— Agricultural Resources — Remarkably Healthy Climate — Colonizing — Gov- 
ernment Lands — Area and Population — Internal Improvements. . 75-S2 

CHAPTER VI. — OREGON and Washington. 

Portland— The Varied Climate— The Fertile Tracts— Population— The 
Columbia River — The Cascade Range — The Lava Beds — Fine Stock — Wil- 
lamette Valley — Agricultural Products of the State — Grains and Emits — 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

Washington Territory — Lumbering — The Cold Weather — Fish and Game — 
The Indians — The grand Scenery of the North-west. . . . 83-90 

CHAPTER VII.— MEXICO. 

Eleven Months in Mexico — The Mexicans — The Climate — Mexican Char- 
acter — Mining — Primitive Processes Employed — The Dwellings — General De- 
cay — A Stranger's Impressions — Amusements — Gambling — Mexican Horse- 
manship — Corraling Wild Stock — Lassoing — Riding a Wild Horse — Cheap 
Horses — The Beauty of the Country — The Delightful Climate — Chihuahua — 
The Casas Grandes Ruins — Explorations — Relics of the Inhabitants of the 
Ancient Cities — Other Ancient Ruins — The Moqui Indians of Arizona — The 
Cliff-dwellers — A Legend — Character of the Moqui, . . . gi-103 

CHAPTER VIII.— ARIZONA. 

Heat and Sand — Other Disagreeable Features — Mr. Janin's Great Scheme 
— Prospector's Oui^i— Burros — Packs and Pack-saddles — Perils of Prospect- 
ing — Ancient Mines — The Inhabitants — Drinking and Gambling — Indians — 
Cock-fighting — Is Civilization a Failure.? 104-112 

CHAPTER IX.— NAVAjOES. 
A Long Trip on Horseback — Chosen Leader — The Outfit — Grand and 
Beautiful Scenerj — First Camp — A Dreary Night — Wet, Worn and Weary — 
Following a Mountain Trail — Night in the Forest — Indian Signs — An Unex- 
pected Visitor — Sketch of Bennett— " Injuns! Injuns!" — A Fierce Fight — The 
Indians Retreat — The Killed and Wounded — Burying the Dead — Forward! — 
An Indian Ambush — But Five Escape — Closely Pursued — Fishing for Food — 
Worn out — Sad Reflections — A Dreadful Night — Friends Discovered — Names 
of Those Killed. 113-132 

CHAPTER X. — THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 

The Colorado Canon — A large Pi-ospecting Party — The Start — No Road 
— Traveling by Night— No Water — A Mutiny— A Bad Situation— Plain Talk 
— Another Mutiny — A Separation — Off Again — Deserters Return — Cornered 
by a Grizzly — Habits of the Grizzlj- — Hunting the Grizzh' — The Grizzly 
Killed — A Lofty Outlook — Standing Guard — Pleasant Dreams — A Gloomy 
Ride — Creeping down the Mountain Side — Meets a Panther — A Frightful 
Situation — The Last Chance — A Lucky Shot — Safe in the Valley — Day- 
light — The Dead Panther-^Trout-fishing — Dreadful Dreams — " Raising the 
Color." 133-152 

CHAPTER XL — through the Colorado canons. — [continued.] 

A Mighty Precipice — The Grand Canon — Buckskin Mountains — " Heads 
or Tails " — Up the River — Rough Traveling — Down the Gulch — An Im- 
pressive Situation — The Head of the Canon — Ancient Ruins — An Oasis — A 
Dangerous Swim — Safely Over — Eastern Side of the River — Apache Visitors 
— " Heap Bad Injun "—Prospecting — An Undesirable Location — Callville — 
John D. Lee — Murderous Mormons. 153-164 

CHAPTER XII. — MONTANA and IDAHO. 

First Settlers— Rich Resources— The Gallatin Valley— Other Valleys- 
Occupations — Advantages of the Railroads — Staging and Freighting — Cor- 
rinne — Warehouses — A Bad Road — High Prices — "Self-risers," "Pilgrims," 
"Tenderfoots." 165-168 

CHAPTER XIII. — LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR \VEST. 

Waters of the West— Great Salt Lake— Its Outlet— The Lake Rising- 
Bathing — Lake Tahoe — Good Place for Captain Boy ton — Crystal Lake — Va- 
rieties of Waters — Hot Springs — Phenomena in Connection with Hot Springs 



CONTEXTS. vii 

—A Large Spring— The Yellowstone— A Tide Spring— A IMud Spring — 
The Steamboat Spring— Alkaline Streams— Causes of Hot Springs, Earth- 
quakes, and Volcanoes 169-177 

CHAPTER XIV.— LA PAZ. 

Surveying in Arizona— Two Days' Ride in a " jerkey "—Stage-coach Ex- 
periences — The Factotum Expressman — La Paz— A Dilapidated Town— Rough 
C-ostomers— The Hotel— The Landlord— A Bad Lot— Street Scenes— Riot Let 
Loose— A Rush for " Hash "—The Barroom— The Landlord's Stories— Greas- 
ers— A Night in Bedlam— Another Lodging-place— A Drunken Texan- 
Pleasant Anticipations— Taking a Tumble— Complimentary Comments— A 
Big Dinner— Night Scenes— Routed by Bed-bugs— Another Tumble— Family 
History— Impressions of La Paz— Back to Fort McDowell— Does " Roughing 
It "Pay.? 178-193 

CHAPTER XV. STOCK-RAISING. 

Successful Men— Life of a Stock-raiser— The Cow-boys— Branding Stock 
— County Inspectors— A Stock Range — Changing Ranges — A " Round-up " 
— Description of the " Cow-boys " — Dangers of a Herder's Life— Indian 
Raids 193-201 

CHAPTER XVI. — STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 

San Francisco—" Bulls " and " Bears "—A Good Run of Luck— A Bad 
Run — Two-thirds of Capital Lost — Off for Salt Lake City — Meeting Old 
Friends — Outfit of Wagons Bought — Instance of Mormon Atrocity — The 
Gilson Brothers — Buying Oxen at Manti — Loading up with Flour — Learning 
to Drive Oxen — Handling the Whip — Yoking the Cattle — Stuck in the Mud 
— Doubling Up — The Second of March — Completely Disgusted— The Final 
Start from Manti — Names of the Party — Salina — A Herder's Camp — Snow — 
Five Weary Weeks — Advice — Thirteen Miles in Six Weeks — Desolate Coun- 
trv 202-218 

CHAPTER XVII.— IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 

Streams in Castle Valley — Description of the Valley — Rock Wells — Bad 
Water — Wretched Traveling— Green River Valley — High Water— A Long 
Ride for a Boat — A Pleasant Camp — Trip to the"^ Canon — Grand Mountain 
View — Mountain Sheep — Back to Camp — Beaver and Otter — Snakes — A Rat- 
tlesnake Den — Wolves — An Exciting Chase — Habits of the Wolves — Wait- 
ing 219-232 

CHAPTER XVIII.— VEXATIOUS delays. 

The Boat Arrives — Ferrving the Wagons and Loads Across — Swimming 
the Cattle— A Wearisome Effort — The Virtue of Patience— Cattle Stampeded 
by a Grizzly — Back Across the River Again — A Dangerous Situation — A 
little out of Humor — A Strange Discovery — A Remarkable Trail — What 
Could the Cloven-footed " Varmint " Be.? — No Cattle— A Hazardous Under- 
taking — The Cattle Found — Driven Over the River Again — The Green 
Brothers Murdered — Something of their History— The " Saints " and their 
Principles — Persecution of the Gentiles — The Green Brothers' Ranch— 'Their 
Horrible Death — Trail of the Murderers — A Clue to the Mystery — A Warning 
to Hasten — A Fatiguing Journey — Grand River Valley — The Paradise of Col- 
orado — Ancient Ruins — Two Miles a Day — Serious Reflections. . 233-252 

CHAPTER XIX. — MORAL and descriptive. 

Colorado as a Health Resort — Lack of Society — Two Years' Isolation — 
A Test of Character— The Lazy Man— The Cheerful Man— Wealth and Rank 
— Worth and Character — The Use of Tobacco — Lonesomeness — Money-mak- 



viii CONTENTS. 

ing and Mining — Duped — Carrying Weapons — Game on Green River — A 
Hunter's Requisites — Methods of Hunting — Mountain Sheep — Deer — Face of 
the Country — Mirages — Gold — Scenery — A Beautiful Prospect — Civilization 
Once More— Chief Ouray— The Ute Indians— Their Farming (?)— Los Pinos 

Agency— Selling Out 253-271 

CHAPTER XX. — SHALL the young man go west? 

A Mining Region — Mining Enterprises — Great Corporations — Their Im 
mense Power — Prosperity — The Real Sovereigns — Advisability of Mining 
Ventures — Chances of the Investor and Prospector — The San Juan Region — 
Disappointment and Dissipation — Immigration — Leadville — Mr. W. H. Ste- 
vens — Soft Carbonates — Bonanzas — Roughing It — A Mining Excitement — 
Idlers — Unpoetic Poverty — Overplus of Population — Condition of San Fran- 
cisco — Let the Young Man Stay at Home — The Puzzled Englishman — Decep- 
tive Appearances — " Cloud-bursts." 272-288 

CHAPTER XXI. — A SPANISH bull-fight. 

Ojo Calienta— The Early Comers— A Front Seat at the Corral— The 
Spectators— The Matadore—ThQ Bull— The First Rush— A Prolonged En- 
counter — The Bull Vanquished — Another Bull Brought in — The Matadore 
Tossed — Severely Injured — A Panic — Scaffolding Gives Way— A Firm Reso- 
lution 289-295 

CHAPTER XXII.— THE INDIANS. 

Their Wigwams — Bedding — Hunting and Amusements — Trading — Dis- 
posal of the bead— Instance of Cruelty— Medicine Men— Exorcising Evil 
Spirits— Religious Belief. 296-301 

CHAPTER XXIII. — THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 

The Tragedy of June 25, 1876 — Sorrow of the Nation — Sketch of Custer's 
Life— Hancock's Campaign — Hancock Outwitted — Custer's First Indian Fight 
— "Circling" — Massacre of Lieutenant Kidder and Party — Horrid Scenes — 
General Sully's Campaign— Custer's Washita Campaign— Yellowstone Ex- 
pedition — Murder of Honzinger and Baliran — Arrest of Rain-in-the-Face — 
He Escapes and Swears Vengeance against Custer — Black Hills Expedition 
—Gold in the Hills— Events of 1S75— Campaign against Sitting Bull and Crazy 
Horse — Custer in Disgrace at Headquarters — The Miserable Belknap Affair — 
Three Columns Converge upon the Hostile Camp — The Bloody Ending — 
Close of the Campaign — Sitting Bull Goes to Canada, and Crazy Horse to the 

Happy Hunting-grounds — Perhaps. 3^2-348 

CHAPTER XXIV.— WHERE shall we settle.? 

Go W^est!— Southern Minnesota— Iowa— Southern Dakota— Nebraska— 
Kansas— The Indian Territorv—No!—Texas— Don't Believe All You Hear!— 
The Indian Border— California: Land Monopoly— Oregon— Climate and Soil 
— " The Great American Desert "—Probable Population in 1900— Whither is 
the Surplus Population to Go?— Good Land Pretty Well Occupied— What 
will be the Result?— Western Wilds will Continue Wild for a Century to 

Come 349-381 

CHAPTER XXV.— conclusion. 

Homeward Bound — Old Memories Aroused — A Surprise — A Pleasant 
Meeting — Time's Changes — Contrasts — Preparing for a Little Trip — Detained 
— Another Surprise — A Happy Birthday— Concluding Reflections. 3S2-384 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Abraham Lincoln, . • 

Jefferson Davis, 

Gen. W. T. Sherman, 

Sherman's March to the Sea, 

Gen. Robt. E. Lee, 

Gen. U. S. Grant, 

Mountain Meadow Massacre, 

Mormon Persecution, 

Brigham Young, . . . ■ 

Mormon Tabernacle, 

New Mining Town, 

View near Lake Tahoe, 

Blue Canon, Sierra Nevada, 

Humboldt Palisades, . 

Donner Lake, 

Pulpit Rock, Echo Canon, 

Scene near Eagle Lake, Cahfornia, 

The Two Guardsmen, 

The Yosemite Falls, 

Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley, 

A California Stump, 

Northern California Scenery, 

Cape Horn, Central Pacific R. R., 

Chinese Qiiarter, San Francisco, 

Rapids of the Upper Columbia, 

View in the Modoc Country, 

View on the Oregon Coast, . 

Border Mexicans, 

Mexican Border Town, 

Mexican Border Invasion, 

Arizona Sand Plains, 

A Train of Burros, 

Perils of Prospecting, 

Civilization in Arizona, 

An Arizona Scrimmage, 

Scene in the Sierra Del Cariso Range, 

Following a Mountain Trail, 

Attacked by Navajo Indians, 

An Indian Ambuscade, 

The Grand Canon of the Colorado 

The Search for Water, . 

Cornered by Grizzhes, 

In the Colorado Canons, 

Sunset in the Colorado Canons, 



PAGE. 

Frontispiece. 

16 
18 
21 

23 

24 
28 



34 

37 

40 . 
46 
48 

52 
54 

55 

61 
63 

^^ 
67 

70 

72 

H 

86 
88 

91 
94 
97 

lOI 

107 
108 
no 
III 

114 
118 

123 
127 

134 

137 
141 

150 

156 



IX 



ILL US TEA TIONS. 



Prospecting in the Colorado Canons, 

Execution of John D. Lee, 

Great Salt Lake, ..... 

Vernal Falls, California, .... 

" Giantess," Big Geyser of the Yellowstone, 

A Western Frontiersman, 

Ready for a Raid, .... 

Salt Lake City, 1857, .... 

Sevier River, Wasatch Mountains, 

Herders' Camping House, 

Shoshonee Indians in the Sevier Valley, 

Camp in Green River Valley, 

Night Scene in Green River Canon, 

Peak in Green River Valley, 

Orson Pratt, Mormon Prophet, 

Former Residences of Brigham Young, . 

George A. Smith, Mormon Apostle, 

"The Sw^ift Dashing- Water," . 

Lonely — Three Thousand Miles from Home, 

"Oh, Solitude, Where are thy Charms?" 

Scalp-Dance of the Ute Indians, 

Hunting Buffalo in the Olden Time, 

He Paid a Big Price, 

These Did Not Grow in a Mining Region, 

An Old '49er Not Yet Rich, 

Dead Broke, 

Mexican Outlaws, 

Mexican Maiden, Lower Class, 

Pueblo Cacique, New Mexico, 

Mexican Indians, 

Indian Wigwam, 

Black Hawk, 

Un Ind^o Bravo, Texas, 

"Go West," 

"Busted," .... 

Custer's First Indian Fight, 

Western Scout,— Wild Bill, . 

Rude Surgery of the Plains, 

Scene of the Sioux War, 

Getting the First Shot, 

Fighting Hand to Hand, 

Winter in the Minnesota Pineries, 

Droughty Kansas, 

Texas and Coahuila in 1830, 

Skirmish with Indians, . 

Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico, 1855, 

A California Big Tree, 

Nevada Falls, Yosemite Valley, 



160 
163 
170 

173 

175 

195 
199 

203 

213 

215 
217 

223 

225 

230 

241 

243 

24^ 

248 

251 

254 
260 

265 

276 

279 

282 

284 
290 
291 

293 

294 

297 

299 
300 

305 

307 
310 

313 

319 
326 

333 
339 
351 
355 
359 
365 
367 
371 
375 



HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER I. 

WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMY CORPS. 

THE author of this work was born in Champaign 
County, Ohio, in June, 1849, and, at the age of 
thirteen years, nine months and twenty- three days, 
joined the army. He was assigned to Company E, of 
the Fifth Ohio Infantry, twentieth army corps, and sent 
to the field. "What fun I shall have," thought he to 
himself, as he took his position in the ranks. Little 
does a boy know, at that age, about the life of a soldier. 
Since every one has read and re-read the history of 
the war, I will condense what I saw into a few words, 
merely giving a little history of the different battles in 
which the twentieth corps took part. No body of 
troops in the Northern army made for itself a prouder 
history than the twentieth army corps. Its life was 
crowded with events not one of which brings dishonor 
to its proudest member, although it was formed from the 
most daring, cultivated, and resolute men of the North. 
" The best fruit trees are clubbed the most," and, in the 
army, detraction often follows the exhibition of superior 
merit in discipline, appearance, or achievements. From 



12 HOW I KNOW. 

the rigid tests of Manchester, Port RepubHc, Antietam, 
Dumfries, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, Gen. Hooker 
brought his men to the Army of the Cumberland at a 
perilous hour. 

The troops of Gen. Bragg, full sixty thousand strong, 
nerved with an earnest devotion to their cause, and en- 
couraged by the doubtful result at Chickamauga, occu- 
pied an almost impregnable position near Chattanooga, 
while in front of them Rosecrans held an uncertain 
footing. His soldiers had seen the hopes of an early 
peace quickly disappear. They were almost appalled 
at the gigantic proportions the rebelHon had assumed. 
They wxre disheartened by the absence, without leave, 
of thousands of their comrades. Their line of supplies 
was in imminent danger, and the country was at that 
time enshrouded in such gloom that the growing glory 
of President Lincoln could scarcely be discerned. It 
was at this crisis that the men whose badges imaged the 
lights that rule the night came and kindled a lustre in 
Wauhatchie Valley, that rose and spread until it bathed 
in matchless splendor old Lookout Mountain's rugged 
peak. Rosecrans was saved! Tennessee was saved! 
A portion of the corps then hurried away to Knoxville, 
with others from the fifteenth corps, and soon broke the 
bands in which Longstreet had kept Burnside hampered, 
almost to the point of starvation. The remainder of 
the corps went into winter quarters. 

It was on the 4th of April, 1864, that the twentieth 
corps was formed, the beloved Joe Hooker being placed 
at its head. The corps retained the star of the twelfth 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 



13 



corps as its insignia. Its real history began with the 
campaign that soon opened. On the 8th of May, the 
enemy was found occupying a strong position on Rocky 
Face Ridge. A severely contested fight followed. It 
had been said that if Johnston could not hold that place 
he could not hold any in Georgia, and the firmest deter- 
mination charac- 
terized the con- 
test until night- 
fall, when both 
armies retired; 
Johnston to his 
works at Resaca, 
and our troops 
to pass through 
Snake Creek Gap 
and then attack 



them again. 

Constant skir- 
mishing was kept 
up until, on the 
14th of May, at 
Resaca, the Con- 
federate f o r c e s 
advanced under a flag so faded that it was taken for a 
flag of truce. In consequence of this mistake a terrible 
blow was given to our forces. The blow was aimed at 
the fourteenth corps, and shook it to the center. But 
Gen. Hooker, by throw^ing out a brigade with that 
marvelous dexterity in which none could surpass him, 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



14 HOW I KNOW. 

saved the Fifth Indiana Battery when on the very poinl 
of capture, checked the advance of the enemy, and held 
his ground until dark. The next morning the entire 
corps moved forward upon the enemy, now firmly in- 
trenched in a series of lines so arranged as to make an 
attack very difficult. The momentum of the first charge 
carried it over the first line, where it gallantly reformed 
its somewhat confused ranks, and at once pressed on. 
Now came emphatically the tug of war. With strain- 
ing sinews and grimmest courage, gray-haired veterans 
and proud-eyed youths fought on and on, gaining always 
some ground ; but so slowly that evening was at hand 
when the weary but still resolute men reached the fourth 
and last chain of defenses. Here was displayed as true 
grit as was ever known among men. So fierce was the 
assault that the rebels could not hold their works, and 
so tenacious the defense that the national forces could 
not occupy them; and there stood an empty fort and an 
idle battery between the lines, which surged and swayed 
and clamored around them for hours. But scarcely had 
the favoring darkness come, ere the Fifth Ohio boys 
crept to the wall, dug through, and hauled out the guns 
by hand. 

On the 25th of May, while the second division of the 
twentieth corps was crossing Pumpkin Vine Creek, a, 
bridge broke down, completely isolating those who had 
crossed; but their very renown shielded them from at- 
tack until help arrived. The situation was critical. No 
intrenching tools had been taken over the stream, and 
orders to recross were expected. But to pass away the 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 15 

time, and to deceive the enemy, the men went to work 
usino- their bayonets and cooking utensils instead of picks 
and shovels, to dig their trenches. But this could not 
loner deceive the watchful foe, and while the remainder 
of the corps was in the act of crossing they made a 
most furious attack. Having checked this, the corps 
moved directly on the well-formed and well-defended 
works in its front. The fighting was desperate. Gen- 
erals Sherman and Thomas were there to direct the 
movement, and there the fact was impressed on all, as 
Gen. Hooker has since said, that a good line of works, 
well manned, cannot be taken by infantry alone. Hav- 
ing lost two thousand men, the movement was aban- 
doned, and then followed seven days of skirmishing, so 
annoying to the enemy that Johnston fell back disgusted 
with the neighborhood. No language can adequately 
depict the perils of that week. All felt that the welfare 
of their respective causes was to be made sure or gravely 
periled by the issue of that field. At last the Army of 
the Cumberland, by extending its flank, pressed the right 
of the hostile Hne back, which then retired to Dallas. 
The twentieth corps was now placed in reserve for six 
days, at the end of which time, it moved into line, reliev- 
ing the fourth corps, which took position further to the left. 
Marching, digging, and fighting, alternately, our forces 
pressed on, and, finally, by the middle of June, were in 
Hne beyond Pine Knob. Here Lieut. Gen. Polk was 
killed and it became evident that the dearest hopes of 
the rebel South were doomed to perish beneath the 
blows of the sturdy Northmen. But none could expect 



16 



HOW / KNOW. 



the daring sons of Dixie to tamely yield their sectional 
claims, cherished so many years. 

Valor and patience and labor and diligence and 
skill and blood must all be given to the nation's cause, 
by Sherman's noble men, and lavishly were they be- 
stowed. It cost some of our regiments full twenty per 

cent of their 
strength to force 
the line at Pine 
Knob; but the 
victors went on 
to seek another 
fateful field, as 
light of spirit and 
as strong of heart 
as the farmer 
who goes to the 
harvest field of 
peace. 

Lost Mount- 
ain having been 
abandoned, the 
Army of theTen- 
jEFFERsoN DAVIS. Hcssee advauccd 

several miles, and found Johnston preparing to stand. 
The Thirteenth New York Battery, Lieutenant Bundy 
commanding, coming up, attacked the enemy skillfully, 
and won a reputation among soldiers that will not dim 
while memory holds her seat. The insurgent chief was 
forced back once more. He then carefully selected a 




WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 17 

strong line of defense on Kenesaw Mountain. As the 
first division of the twentieth corps was forming its line 
on the right of the second, a large force was hurled upon 
it, which force was nearly annihilated by the artillery 
happily at that moment massed at the extreme front. 
The unprecedented slaughter discouraged the assailants, 
and they retired to their works, remaining in them sev- 
eral days. 

The twentieth corps celebrated the Fourth of July in 
line of battle, forgetting their own crowding honors in 
the just glories of our hero sires of 1776. Girding up 
their loins, they pressed on toward the Chattahoochee 
with renewed courage, for Atlanta, the Gate City of the 
South was now in sight. 

In proportion as victory cheered them, defeat carried 
sorrow and despair to their opponents. General Hood 
was sent to relieve General Johnston, whose farewell 
address was audible to our pickets. He instituted at 
once a more decisive policy, staking the very existence 
of his army, and requiring equal risks on the part of his 
opponents. Gaining the left bank of the Chattahoochee 
with admirable skill, Sherman approached Peach Tree 
Creek, where the united skill of both rebel chiefs had 
prepared formidable work for the intrepid travelers. 
On the 2oth of July, the star corps, while in order of 
march, was assailed by the entire force then and there 
gathered for the deliverance of Georgia. A terrible 
battle ensued. The Southern troops were burning to 
retrieve their losses, and felt that another defeat might 
be fatal to their cause. Their base of suppHes was at 



18 



HOW I KNOW, 



hand, and their entire force was available. The ground 
was well adapted for defense. Now, or never, they must 
crush this daring invader. To break his Hues was to 
annihilate his army; to fail in that was to have him soon 
thunder at the gates. Nor could Sherman now afford 
defeat — it was ruin. His long line of communication 

could not be held 
a day after such 
an event. The 
immense gains of 
the summer's toil 
would all be lost. 
A new campaign 
added to the bur- 
dens of the al- 
ready heavily la- 
den nation could 
hardly restore 
what might now 
be secured by 
persevering en- 
ergy and the un- 
daunted courage 
that had made 
these men heroic. 
True, their ground was unfavorable; they must stand 
the more stubbornly. A deep, crooked stream was be- 
fore them; the}^ must use more skill in crossing. They 
could not form in line; every man must be his own 
support. They were called upon to brave all difficulties, 




GEN. W. T. SHERMAN. 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 19 

and they did it. They were to win success by sacrifices, 
and they suffered and succeeded. Peach Tree Creek 
was rnade one of the holy spots where the nation's chil- 
dren were faithful unto death, and victory planted there 
a laurel that will never fade. Two days later the Army 
of the Tennessee was similarly attacked with similar 
results, and Hood retired to Atlanta. The siege of the 
doomed city began at once. The twentieth corps had 
been under fire more than one hundred days, with only 
six days intermission. It had lost over thirteen thousand 
men, about three-fifths of its entire number, and still it 
retained its characteristic energy, and was a pride to its 
friends and a terror to its foes. Taking its place in the 
Hues about the city, it bore a conspicuous part in that 
skillful siege. Meantime the lamented M'Pherson (com- 
manding the Army of the Tennessee) fell, and General 
Hooker was recommended as his successor. But Gen- 
eral Howard was appointed, and " Fighting Joe" could 
only ask to be relieved from duty under Sherman. 

General Williams assumed his command, and by a 
change afterward made in the plan of the siege, this 
trusty corps was sent to hold the line of the Chattahoo- 
chee, guard trains, deceive the enemy, and, if possible, 
annoy him while Sherman flanked the great northern 
defenses, and approached the town from the rear. The 
corps, there being now confidence in every man belong- 
ing to it, stretched out in line for nearly ten miles, the 
men being in some instances ten or twelve feet apart. 
They held their position, and fully answered the expec- 
tation of their commander. When Hood left, the twen- 



20 HOW I KNOW. 

tieth moved on, and was the first to enter the fallen 
stronghold. There it lay and recruited while the re- 
mainder of the army drove Ho6d to the arms of Thomas 
at Nashville, where Hood lost his power. Several thou- 
sand new troops joined the corps at Atlanta. Having 
repelled some trifling attacks at different times, here, 
preparations were made for another campaign. Where 
now? was a much mooted question among the men; but 
the accomplished Sherman suffered friend and foe alike 
to wonder and conjecture. On the 15th of November 
(1864) we set out for the south-east, and Mobile, Savan- 
nah, Charleston, Augusta, Wilmington, and even Rich- 
mond, were confidently named as probable points we 
were to reach. Very meagre were the supplies we 
carried, and the rebel papers we saw from time to time, 
were filled with the most glowing prophecies of our 
swiff; destruction. The resources of the country through 
which we passed were at once put under contribution. 
The accumulated edibles of Georgia, its numerous cat- 
tle, horses, mules, calves, etc., disappeared as by magic 
along our route. Too strong to be stopped or seriously 
hindered by any effort the foe could make, four co-oper- 
ating corps swept along, and the great raid became the 
most magnificent march of modern history. Our ex- 
perience was more like that of a band of mischievous 
travelers than an invading army. Destroying railroads, 
cotton gins, warehouses, and bridges; making roads 
across plantations and through swamps, and marching 
leisurely on with song and shout, and endless badinage; 
foraging, cooking, and eating alternated with each other 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 



21 



through the entire thirty days we spent in reaching the 
defenses of Savannah. Our corps was assigned the 
direct approach by the Augusta pike, with the fourteenth 
as reserve, and twelve miles from the city the outer 
defense was carried gallantly after a very brief ac- 
tion. The next line, five miles from town, was its 
real reliance. 

The complete destitution of the troops, in respect to 
some important supplies, caused comparative inactivity 
until the fall of 
M'Allister open- 
ed a line for 
supplies. Then 
heavy fatigue 
parties were 
employed in the 
raising of coun- 
terworks, which 
were scarcely ^ 
begun before sherman's march to the sea, 

Hardee evacuated the place. No sooner had his sharp- 
shooters crept away from the outer rifle pits than an 
enterprising New Yorker crept into them, and hurrying 
back, roused his officers with the welcome intelligence. 

Wonderful was the forbearance of the victorious 
warriors. General Sherman alludes to it, in his report, 
as a most gratifying proof of their good discipline. The 
citizens, terrified by the horrible tales with which South- 
ern editors had tried to fire the Southern heart, seemed 
to expect barbarities almost unendurable. Their own 




22 



HOW I KNOW. 



soldiers had wantonly murdered many negroes during 
the night, for manifesting joy at the coming of the 
Yankees. Nearly the whole day was spent arranging 
and stationing the usual guard, during which the city lay 
completely at the mercy of our men. The conduct of 
these sons of our free civilization in that hour, furnished 

testimony in favor 
of liberty and equal 
rights that the 
people of Savan- 
nah should never 
f o r g e t. The re- 
mainder of the ar- 
my subsequently 
took position in the 
vicinity. O n o u r 
departure, six 
weeks later, the 
reiterated regrets 
of the citizens was 
a most honorable 
proof of general 
good conduct. 
Earnest public ef- 
forts were made to retain the second division of the 
twentieth corps as a city guard. But it had proved 
itself too useful in the field to be excused from aiding 
in the great effort soon to be made. 

Moving up the river in the latter part of January the 
army crossed into South Carolina, and entered with 




GEN. ROBT. E. LEE. 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 23 

more than usual energy upon the work of devastation. 
For a considerable distance hardly anything combustible 
was left unburned. Neither strength nor weakness, 
wealth nor poverty could shield the luckless citizens of 
the Mother of Secession from the hot zeal of the aveng- 
ers. Gradually, however, passion subsided, and a calm, 
quiet resolve to enforce justice and right took its place, 
and then more discrimination marked our deeds. By 
the time we reached Winnsborough, February the 20th, 
even Wade Hampton had learned the disposition of our 
men so well as to assure the citizens, by letter, that " If 
the twentieth corps occupy the place, private rights will 
be respected." His confidence was not misplaced. A 
feeling of mutual respect, based on profound self-respect, 
seemed to pervade both citizens and soldiers, and our 
stay there will ever be one of the most agreeable mem- 
ories of the campaign. We now pushed more to the 
eastward, and a monotonous journey succeeded. Cross- 
ing the Catawba during a dark, rainy night, we moved 
on to Cheraw, crossed the Great Pedee, and three days 
later entered North Carolina. Here a general order was 
published, reminding the army of the greater loyalty of 
the old North State, and recommending a milder pol- 
icy. A few days later we reached Fayetteville, and 
from that point dispatched a mail. 

Much rain had made the roads heavy, and the trains 
were therefore sent to Goldsborough for suppHes, w^hile 
the main portion of the second corps was sent up the Ra- 
leigh plank road. At Averysborough the long-cherished 
plans of Joe Johnston were proved futile, his army badly 



24 



HOW I KNOW. 



punished, and the old reputation of our corps honorably 
sustained. At Bentonville the disheartened leaders of 
the rebellion made their last despairing, wild, but fruit- 
less stand before Sherman's troops. For a little time 
their assault showed something of their ancient vigor ; 
but, as our scattered forces came flocking to the field, 

their discretion 
prevailed, and they 
retired. After rest- 
ing a few days at 
Goldsborough to 
refit, we hurried on 
to Raleigh. The 
foe seemed intent 
only on necessary 
flight. Here we 
received their 
very welcome sur- 
render. 

And now, having 
finished the Avork 
assigned us, and 
brought again ev- 
ery portion of our 
beloved country under the control of the national arms, 
we gladly turned toward home, loving the arts and du- 
ties of peace far better than the harsh scenes of war. 
Reaching Washington, the twentieth corps participated 
in the grand review, and won high compliments from 
the spectators. An impartial writer has declared the 




GEN. U. S. GRANT. 



WITH THE TWENTIETH ARMT CORPS. 25 

second division of the corps the crack division of the 
vast assemblage. A few days later the corps wras dis- 
banded, and nov^ most of its noble members are enjoy- 
ing the well earned comforts of the homes they so val- 
orously defended. May they long live to recount their 
great achievements, and to perpetuate in narrative, and 
song; the memories of their brave fellows who fell in the 
conflict, and who sleep everywhere from Maryland to 
Mississippi. 



HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER II. 

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 

RETURNING home at the close of the war, I re- 
mained for nearly two years, a portion of the time 
with my father, and the remainder with friends in Mad- 
ison County, Ohio. This period I will pass over with- 
out further notice. 

In 1863 an uncle, my mother's brother, went to Cali- 
fornia. He was continually writing for me to come to 
him. I hesitated a long time. Finally he became, as 
he thought, permanently located in Piute County, Utah 
Territory. Then he again "wrote me, holding out in- 
ducements so strong that I could no longer resist. He 
wrote to his brothers and to me of the enormous for- 
tunes that were made in a few days ( like Jonah's gourd, 
that sprung up in a night), and that people who would 
or did come there would amass fortunes ten and twenty 
times faster than they could in Ohio. 

Consequently I could not rest satisfied until I had 
turned all my resources into cash, and the Fall of '68 
found me in Utah, in a new mining camp located two 
hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. I was green 
in the business of mining. I had some money; but I 
loaned it to uncle and his friends. The consequence 
was, I must work or starve. This now brings me up 
to the beginning of a three years' sojourn in Utah. 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 27 

Utah is situated in the great basin between the 
Rocky Mountains on the East and the Sierra Nevada 
on the West. Some of the valleys ov^ned and v^orked 
by the Mormon saints are as fertile as any on the conti- 
nent. They raise everything for their own use, and 
have considerable of an export trade with the adjacent 
States and Territories. But, for all that, I found it was 
as much as people could do to live there, for the Terri- 
tory was populated with fanatics, and unless you were 
one of their creed, and agreed with them in their wild 
notions, you were liable to be forever lost unless you 
passed through the ordeal of Blood Atonement. You 
should be murdered for the remission of your sins. 
And they were careful that this should be done in se- 
cret. Not that the chosen of the Lord should operate 
with deadly revenge, on dark nights; but that the per- 
petrators of their criminal deeds might be the better 
concealed from the eyes of the Law and of the Christian 
world. Unless persons residing there were of their 
faith, or upheld them in their deeds of violence, such as 
murdering, stealing, and burning the property belonging 
to the Gentiles, they were regarded as evil doers, by the 
Mormon profession. Violent acts, fully premeditated, 
and without any cause or provocation whatever, were 
committed time and again; were almost daily occur- 
rences, indeed. Numbers of instances could I mention, 
but they have been fully narrated heretofore by others, 
such as following up and murdering in the most brutal 
manner, one whole emigrant train of men, women, 
and children, who were on their way to California. 



28 



HOW I KNOW. 



To this day their bones 4ie bleaching in the sun. Some 
claim that they did have a burial; but, judging from 
appearances and the manner in which I saw the bones 
lying scattered over the plain, it would be very difficult 
for Brigham Young, Haight, Higbee, and Delee, and 
their hordes of destroying angels to verify the statement 




MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE. 



that they did bury those that were massacred at Mount- 
ain Meadow. 

Taking a view of the picturesque and beautiful land- 
scapes which compose the Mountain Meadows, one 
would hardly think that this had been the scene of such 
a wanton outrage. But this was no w^orse than hun- 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 29 

dreds of others. Several incidents have come under 
my own observation. One I may mention, occurred in 
Manti, San Pete County. There v^^as a young man living 
there who had become entangled in a love affair with a 
young lady of the same place. It so happened that 

Bishop S , of the precinct, had had revelations; that 

is, the Lord had commanded him to take this young lady 
as his wife, notwithstanding the fact that he had several 
wives already. The bishop tried to reason the young 
lady out of having anything to say to the young man. 
But the fact was, the young couple were engaged to be 
married; and the bishop, finding that loving words to 
his desired darling were of no avail, resolved not to be 
outdone, but to seek revenge on the young man. Con- 
sequently he had a secret conference with a few of the 
brethren, and they decided to hold a meeting in the 
school-house, which meeting the young man should be 
prevailed upon to attend. At this meeting these plot- 
ters in a most cruel manner destroyed the manhood of 
the young man. He, after lingering some time in great 
suffering, died. Several instances of like character have 
taken place in Utah, all in obedience to the "revelations 
of the Lord," as given to those whose lives have been 
passed worse than brutes of the field. Another way of 
seeking revenge is for some one to sell horses or cattle 
to one not belonging to the faith. Then officers are 
sent to arrest him for stealing. He is certain to receive 
no mercy, because they will murder him on the road 
to trial, and make a report to the effect that he had 
been some desperado of the worst dye. The case of 



30 HOW I KNOW. 

D. P. Smith, of Piute County, is a good illustration. He 
bought a span of mules from a certain saint who resided 
in Ogden, a settlement thirty-six miles north of Salt 
Lake City, and took them to the mines on the Sevier 
River. They followed and arrested him on the charge 
of stealing the mules, and started to take him to the city 
for trial. They soon became tired of him, and, after 
hauling him twenty-five miles, they shot him, and buried 
the body in an old manure bank. 

One more illustration of their saintliness. Captain 
Hawley, now living at Pleasant Grove, Utah, hired a 
young man of seventeen years of age to work for him. 
After the young fellow had labored six months Captain 
Hawley paid him off with an old horse that was not 
worth a cent, since good broncos were selling at only 
ten and twelve dollars a piece. The young fellow, glad 
to get an3/thing, took the horse, and started toward 
Corinne. Captain Plawley waited a sufficient time for his 
victim to get well on his way, then got the sheriff and fol- 
lowed and arrested him, before he had reached Corinne, 
on the charge of having stolen the horse. The Mormons, 
being so bitterly opposed to w^orldly immigration into 
Utah, would charge any criminal offense against a Gen- 
tile already in the Territory. So it was with the young 
man with the horse. He was taken to the nearest tree 
and hung by the neck, his hands being untied. When 
he was swung off he commenced to climb the rope 
hand over hand. Captain Hawley then took a small 
cedar post that lay there and broke both of the young 
man's arms, and, after pounding him with the club until 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 



31 



satisfied, he rode off and left the poor fellow to the 
merc}^ of some one who could show enough sympathy 
for such unfortunates to give him a burial. 

The people in Utah who piofess to belong to the 
Mormon Church are two-thirds of them direct from Eu- 
rope (Danes and Swedes being largely in the majority), 
and among the most of them ignorance predominates. 
I have seen in Southern Utah the women out plowing 
with cattle, breaking up the ground, harrowing and 
seeding it, and tending and gathering their crops, while 
the men w^ere 
too shiftless to 
either help them 
or otherwise to 
provide suste- 
nance for their 
household. 

Hundreds of 
them live in 
adobe houses. These are made by mixing black earth 
to the consistency of thick mud and forming it into very 
large-sized blocks shaped like bricks. Then they are 
spread over a piece of ground leveled off for the pur- 
pose, there to be sun-dried, when they are considered 
fit material of which to build their houses. Then they 
go to the canon and there cut small straight poles 
for the roof The poles are laid along the sides of the 
house, one end resting on a large log that is laid up 
for a center beam, the other on the top of the adobe 
wall; after which they mix more mud and water together 




MORMON PERSECUTION. 



32 HOW I KNOW. 

and plaster these poles all over. This forms the roof. 
Shingle and all other expensive roofs are dispensed with. 
Here in these castles the saints have their wives brush- 
ing up their dirt floors, washing, mending, ironing, cook- 
ing and indeed providing for the support of the house- 
hold, while they themselves spend their time in receiving 
revelations from the Lord regarding the future prosper- 
ity of Mormondom and the number of additional wives 
it would be necessary to take in order to obtain celestial 
glory. 

The following illustration is given to convey some idea 
of marriage in Utah. A certain Mr. Buntz, who is now 
living in San Pete County, Utah, received a revelation 
from the Lord, as he claimed, that, notwithstanding he 
had already a number of wives, he must still increase 
his better half by taking to his arms and marrying three 
sisters who were living near by. He married all three 
at one and the same time with as much unconcern as if 
it were an every-day occurrence. Another instance I 
will notice. There was a certain bishop then living in 
Provost City, who became enamored w^ith a married 
lady of one of the adjoining villages. In order to obtain 
his sixth loved one he went to the lady's husband, and 
there in pleading tones he narrated the revelations he 
had received from the Lord, setting forth the way in 
^vhich he must do in order to receive his share of celes- 
tial glory in the world to come. The husband listened 
very attentively until the bishop had finished his request; 
then, in a good-natured way, he showed him the fallacy 
of such proceedings both in a moral and religious view. 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 33 

But the bishop was not to be argued out of his hope of 
celestial happiness. That night the husband was fol- 
lowed and murdered in cold blood upon his own door- 
step. Some who read this may think that I am overstat- 
ing the facts. Indeed such is not the case ; for I have 
given only a few instances when I could recount more 
than one hundred such, most of which can be verified 
by many who are still living in Utah, and in surrounding 
States and Territories. 

I will next speak of the scenery. In traveling through 
Utah from the north-east you are constantly passing into 
and out of canons with mountains on either side, tower- 
ing for thousands of feet above you. These mountain 
sides, where not too rocky and abrupt, are covered with 
a dense giowth of timber, while between the mountains 
in the canons are clear running brooks of cold water, in 
most of which trout abound. 

In traveling along one frequently passes alkaline 
springs, boiling springs, and springs of almost freezing 
water oftentimes located only a few feet apart. Many 
of these springs are intermittent in their action and they 
are all a source of unfailing interest to the traveler and 
geologist. 

The Jordan River and City Creek run through the 
city of Salt Lake, affording an abundant supply of the 
purest water in any city as large as this, in the world. 
Most beautiful trout are hooked out of the streams, by 
the little boys, right in the street. 

After leaving Salt Lake City, going south, one is 
struck with the prominence of the old Wasatch range, 

3 



34 



I/OW I KNOW. 



now ascending gradually, then rising abruptly in broken, 
rough, and dangerous looking precipices. At other 
places it looks as if the country had been inundated with 
water, and the rock, being in some places softer than its 
connecting sides, had been worn away, leaving canons 
of all shapes, depths, and lengths. 

The valleys through Juab and San Pete Counties are 
made very productive by irrigation. This is done by 

taking water and con- 
ducting it through 
ditches all over the land 
under cultivation. After 
their crops are planted, 
and it becomes necessa- 
ry to moisten the ground, 
the water is turned into 
these small ditches and 
left running until the 
earth is sufficiently moist- 
ened, when it is shut off 
until it becomes neces- 
sary to repeat the operation. The valleys are of a dark, 
loamy soil mixed with sand, and before they are brought 
under cultivation are covered with sage brush — a small 
scrubby bush that grows sometimes to the height of six 
feet. It is found from the British possessions on the 
the North to the Gulf of Mexico on the South. All the 
valleys and plains throughout the mountains of the West 
produce the sage bush in great abundance. The sage 
bush is the home of the jack-rabbit. Dozens of them 




BRIGHAM YOUNG. 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 35 

may be seen at any time running in all directions from 
the traveler, as he journeys over the plains. 

Some of the loftiest peaks of Utah can be seen at a 
distance of many miles. Mt. Nebo is as prominent as 
any, with an elevation of a little over twelve thousand 
feet. As the traveler journeys on South, through the 
Territory, he travels over sandy deserts, unsettled and 
uncultivated, except in a few places where the streams 
flow through from the mountains, furnishing water suffi- 
cient for irrigating purposes. Generally along these 
streams a few of the saints have settled in adobe houses, 
built after their own fashion, usually surrounded by a 
stone wall built in the form of a square, and often con- 
taining as much as an acre of land. Into this they 
remove their famihes, and use it as a fortress in defend- 
ing themselves against the Indians, when they make 
their raids through the settlements. 

The bench lands all over the Territory produce great 
quantities of bunch grass, a very nutritious grass that 
grows to the height of eighteen inches, and in bunches. 
In passing through the Territory you see thousands and 
thousands of cattle feeding upon this grass. The val- 
leys are productive of no timber whatever, unless it be 
a few scattering cottonwoods along the banks of the 
streams. But sufficient timber grows in the mountains 
for all necessar}^ purposes. Mahogany and cedar con- 
stitute the kinds that grow on that side of the ranges 
facing the South, while the pine, fir, spruce, balsam, 
and small scrub-oaks, with a few more scrubby little 
bushes, constitute the timber on the North slope. 



36 HOW I KNOW. 

Mines were discovered in Utah years ago; but owing 
to the influences brought to bear by the Mormon 
leaders upon their not so well enlightened followers, 
mining was prohibited within the Hmits of the Territory. 
But as time passed on, and people began to emigrate to 
the West in greater numbers, crowding full the older 
places, and seeking for newer fields, where fortunes 
might be dug from the earth, at last, and in the face of 
all opposition from the Mormons, prospecting and min- 
ing throughout the Territory began. So that to-day 
thousands of honest, hard-working miners can be seen 
toiHng and striving for the treasures of gold and silver, 
and other minerals that lie buried underneath the surface 
earth of Utah. Notwithstanding the many difficulties 
that the pioneer miners of the Territory had to encoun- 
ter and overcome, some of them have done extremely 
well. And now some who were so bitterly opposed to 
opening up mines there, finding it useless to resist the 
fast growing population of miners, are zealously engaged, 
themselves, in opening up some of the Territory's pre- 
cious wealth. 

Gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, iron, salt, and a few 
other minerals are found in many parts of the Territory 
in sufficient quantities to leave a balance over all expen- 
ditures in running them. 

At different places throughout the Territory, salt is 
found in the mountains, and is easily taken out and 
refined. Large deposits of coal are found in various 
places throughout the Territory. 

While in Utah my home was in a mining camp 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 



37 



located on Sevier River. A great number of locations 
was recorded. The recorder was kept busy writing 
out and recording claims, as people would do nothing 
but locate and then record. I often times thought to 
myself, "What will this amount to?" But green as I 




THE MORMON TABERNACLE. 



was, I could only do as others did. I then knew no 
more about mining than a two-year-old boy knows about 
making an arasta, or quartz mill. I worked a few^ days 
and obtained a little money — enough for a grub-stake — 
then I went to hunting for hidden millions, along with 



38 HOW I KNOW. 

Others. I would write out a notice and post it up on 
everything that my ignorance claimed as a very valuable 
mine. It was only a short time until every bowlder and 
pile of rocks for miles around the camping spot was 
located and recorded. The recorder would most always 
do the work of recording, and wait for his fees until the 
mine became a paying property. And I rather think that 
the recorder of Ohio District is yet waiting, like Micaw- 
ber, for some of the miners that located there to turn up. 

It would sometimes happen that two or more notices 
would be found on the same bowlder. Then war would 
be the result. A mine is of no value until a few per- 
sons are butchered over it, in an effort to determine the 
question as to who shall be the possessor of it. 

Thousands of locations are made throughout the 
mountains, when work to the amount of one dollar has 
not been done upon them; yet the location is named, 
filed, and recorded, and the worthy claimant struts 
around and talks of his mine as though it were worth 
thousands, when in reality it is not worth the paper he 
has soiled in writing the notice. But stay with your 
mine, pard, you may sell it for several thousand yet. It 
is very easy to tell a prospector from any one else. The 
prospector always has his pockets full of rocks of all 
sizes, shapes, colors, and kinds, each piece of which he 
will tell you the nature of, the probability of its value, 
and all the different combinations of mineral that it con- 
tains, with as much ease, and all the grace of a first- 
class mineralogist. If he is not able to do this he is a 
" tenderfoot," and has much to learn in the art of min- 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 39 

ing. To prospect successfully he should send to some 
friend in California and have some very rich specimens 
of gold rock sent to him. Then, if he keeps his little 
tongue in the right channel, the whole camp is soon on 
its feet, anxious to see a specimen of the richest gold- 
bearing quartz rock that was ever heard of; and the 
next day, and for days after, the lucky miner is watched 
in his every movement, to see in what direction he leaves 
camp. He is then still watched and carefully trailed. 

Miners in well doing are the most excitable of men. 
Often and often will they leave mines or claims that pay 
well, to go to a distance, led by some new excitement; 
and when they arrive there it frequently happens that they 
find nothing but disappointment and starvation staring 
them in the face. The White Pine excitement, in Ne- 
vada, is a good illustration. Hundreds flocked there to 
spend the last cent they had, and then to leave, packing 
their blankets on their backs; that is, they who were 
fortunate enough to have blankets, for hundreds had not 
even a meal's provisions to serve them on their exit 
from what a few days before was supposed to be one of 
the richest camps the world had ever seen. 

A miner's fortune is like a mushroom — it springs up 
where least expected, then again it vanishes with as great 
rapidity as it came. I shall always remember the first 
mine I endeavored to work for myself. After prospect- 
ing for two months on all quarters of the compass from 
Bullion City, the mining town I was holding responsible 
for my bed and board, I at last resolved to go to work 
on what I supposed the best of my many locations. So 



40 



HOW I KNOW. 



I laid in a supply of drills, hammers, powder and fuse, 
and hired a man to work with me for four dollars a day. 
Then, after spending a day surveying the location and 
arguing the many advantages one spot had over another 
for working, we at last concluded that the cheapest and 
best way to work the mine advantageously was to go 
down below the mine on the slope of the mountain and 




NEW MINING TOWN. 



run a tunnel in until we struck the vein, then we would 
be at a sufficient depth to ascertain the value of our 
ore. So we spent the whole day, and did nothing ex- 
cept to come to the conclusion that a tunnel was the 
cheapest and best method, and that by running in 
twenty feet we could tap the lead at about that or a 
little greater depth, and that the next morning we would 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 41 

begin digging the tunnel. After digging, picking, drill- 
ing and blasting one month we had run a tunnel in 
twenty-seven feet and had found no ledge. Then what 
to do I did not know, for my money was exhausted and 
I had been running in debt at the store for provisions 
two weeks. At last I resolved to have some older, ex- 
perienced miners to go up with me and see my claim 
and give me some idea of what I should do in order to 
show up my vein of ore, for I v^as sure it was there 
some place, and plain to be seen on top I thought. 
Some said I was working it right; others were doubt- 
ful. At last one of them agreed to come the next 
morning and to help me work some on it from the top 
in exchange for v^ork, which I accepted. 

The next morning found me on the ground as usual, 
but not to tunnel. I was now about to sink a shaft 
riofht down on what I considered to be the vein. After 
spending the day in prying around large rocks and 
pushing off smaller ones, we were ready to begin sink- 
ing the next morning. Before noon we had sunk a 
shaft clear through my mine, and there was now no 
more of an indication left than there is on a barn floor. 
So I was out about three hundred dollars in time, 
money, and provisions, not counting my tools in, for I 
still had them — all because I was no miner, but simply 
wanted to do something I knew nothing about. This 
was my first out in mining. 

But I remained by no means an idle prospector, show- 
ing nothing but notices on file. A company often of us 
went in on the Webster Location Lode, and we located 



42 HOW I KNOW. 

all of the available ground that the law specified we 
should have and more too, and then went to work on it, 
some of my partners expecting to sell out in a few days 
for fabulous amounts. But my courage was none of 
the best in developing; for my first work spent in tun- 
neling had proved such an entire failure. We had hard 
rock to blast, and progress was slow. At a called meet- 
ing of the members of the company, we concluded to 
put in the remainder of the work done in developing by 
sinking a shaft parallel with the vein. We got along very 
well with this until we had attained the depth of fifty or 
sixty feet, when the walls became scaly and we had to 
timber the shaft. Then the water came in in torrents, 
which had to be kept out, and the consequence was our 
progress was so impeded that we were two years sink- 
ing on the Webster Lode and only obtained a depth of 
two hundred feet. I always will think it is a good mine, 
could it be worked with any reasonable expense; but it 
can not. So there it lies yet with no one doing any- 
thing with it. 

Thus it is with thousands of others who have located 
and worked claims until they were satisfied that the 
mineral extracted from the lead would not pay expenses 
of labor and cost of milling, and have abandoned claims 
that sometimes assay hundreds of dollars to the ton. In 
this w^ay prospecting is going on all over the West and 
not one mine out of every ten thousand that is located 
and even put on file in the county or district clerk's office 
ever pays back the cost of expenditures, counting money, 
time, provisions, tools, and all other necessary expenses. 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 43 

It can, therefore, plainly be seen that all men can not 
make a fortune mining; but the majority of people that 
are carried away by mining excitements rush in pell- 
mell, without ever taking time to think what they can 
or will do when they get there. They seem to think 
that the precious metals are lying around in quantities 
sufficient for them to amass enormous fortunes, so that 
they may live at ease and in luxury and splendor the 
balance of their lives; and all this is to be obtained 
within a short time and at little or no expense, merely 
expecting to shovel the gravel into a sluice box, or by 
some other method to separate the gold from the mother 
earth. Now, friends, this is all a mistake. Where one 
man reaps a fortune in a mining field, scores are retiring 
to hunt some other place where the chance would seem 
better in their favor, and they will never find it. Mining 
is a legitimate business, as much so as farming or any 
other branch of industry that one might engage in. But 
yet there is more chance work connected with mining 
than with all the other different pursuits of business. I 
am well aware there are a great many writing to the 
contrary, and I would not wish to try to dissuade any 
one from mining ; but, on the contrary, go if you want 
to. There is yet plenty to learn. Hundreds will go to 
the West, expecting to make their mark in some pro- 
fession where shrewdness and education are required. 
They will find all the professions full and much more 
so than is needed. Some want to know where to go. 
Bear patiently with me and I will show you where there 
is yet room before I come to the end of this book. 



44 HOW I KNOW. 

Mining, when you are on a good mine, is an invest- 
ment or enterprise that surpasses all other enterprises 
that I know of as a high road to fortune. Thousands of 
dollars have rewarded the sturdy prospector in some in- 
stances in a single day. But the day is past when the 
miner can take up his pan and in an hour or tw^o pan 
out enough dust to supply himself and friends with 
abundant funds. One meets hundreds of good old fel- 
lows, who will tell of the money they made in the early 
days of California and how they spent it, thinking there 
were such vast quantities lying in the gulches, that they 
could be possessors of all the luxuries of the land as 
long as they lived. 



NEVADA. ^^ 



CHAPTER III. 

NEVADA. 



AFTER remaining in Utah Territory until I became 
weary of not well doing, I concluded to go to Ne- 
vada. I settled temporarily in Carson City, which, at 
that time, was a very small place; but was, nevertheless, 
bustUng with life and energy. My finances not being 
cumbersome, I resolved to go to work at the first op- 
portunity. This presented itself two days after, when 
I went to work for Yerrington, BHss & Co., who were 
large wood and lumber contractors. They owned large 
tracts of timber lands lying in proximity to Lake Tahoe, 
together with saw-mills and flumes. Tahoe is a beau- 
tiful lake, about which enough has been said to justify 
me in passing over the beauties and grandeur of the 
lake, and the surrounding locality. (Read Mark Twain.) 
I began work in a saw-mill, as screw-turner, and 
remained there until the mill closed in the Fall, which 
it does every year on account of cold and snow. But 
I had made good use of my time, and when I went 
down to Carson City I had six hundred and forty dol- 
lars, nearly all of which I had made that Summer. 
There the mining fever was raging, as it always is. 
Excitement ran high, and every one — men, women, and 
children, old and young, rich and poor— if they were 
able to raise only five dollars, were deaHng or dabbling 



46 



HOW I KNOW. 



in stocks of the celebrated Comstock mines, which 
were just then receiving so much attention in the San 
Francisco Stock Exchange. I, of course, must try my 
luck, with the others. So I invested the half I had, 
and became a constant attendant at the broker's office, 
and watcher of the bulletin boards, along with the 
crowded masses of different nationalities that are always 
there watching every change that is noted down with 




VIEW NEAR LAKE TAHOE. 



the fluctuation of the stock in San Francisco. 

Fortune for once, I thought, seemed to be in my 
favor, for during that Winter I made the little sum of 
sixteen hundred dollars; not by my shrewdness, how- 
ever, for I declare I knew nothing about it, except that 
I would give Messrs. Rice & Peters my money, with 
orders to buy such and such stock, and in a short time 
I would make sale at a large profit, and buy again. 

Nevada possesses some of the richest producing 



NEVADA. 47 

mines in the world. The Comstock mines are the best 
in the State. Millions and millions have been produced 
from some of the oldest locations on this lode, with vast 
bodies of ore yet in sight. No one who has never been 
at Virginia City can form an idea of the vast amount 
of work that is required to carry on the mining busi- 
ness there. Some of the finest machinery that the 
world has yet produced can there be seen. This must 
be had in order to mine successfully in deep mines. 
MilHons of dollars are annually spent in erecting hoist- 
ing works, quartz mills, and other necessary improve- 
ments. The water that they use comes through pipes 
from Marlette or Silver Lake miles away, down the 
mountain side, across valleys, then to ascend again, to 
be distributed throughout the city. The mines are 
always in need of vast quantities of wood and lumber, 
a greater portion of which comes from the mountain 
sides around Lake Tahoe. The lumber is sawed at the 
different mills along the eastern shore of the lake. A 
great many men are employed in this work. Some 
cutting logs at different points around the lake, others 
hauling and dumping them into the water, where rafts 
are formed and then towed across the lake to the mills, 
where they have large break-waters constructed to 
keep the logs from being carried back into the lake and 
lost. When the logs are sawed, the lumber is all piled 
up, each kind by itself, after which it is loaded on the 
cars and taken to the dividing ridge of the mountain 
between the lake and Carson City, where it is again 
piled up as before, alongside a flume. 



48 



HOW I KNOW. 



Now, to go back a little, the Lake Tahoe Narrow 
Gauge Railroad was built from the lake at Glenbrook to 
the summit. In a direct line, the distance is a little short 
of three miles; but to get from the lake up, they made 
nine miles of road, and some of that has a grade of 
one hundred and sixty feet to the mile. They have 
two engines on the road, which run all the time, except 

in the dead 
of Winter, 
bringing up 
wood and 
lumber to 
the summit 
yards. 

From the 
summit to 
Carson City 
is fourteen 
miles, and 
the distance 
is spanned 
by a long 

BLUE CANON, SIERRA NEVADA. flumC. ThC 

capacity of the flume is unknown. There have been over 
one million feet of lumber and four hundred cords of 
wood sent from the summit to Carson in a single day's 
run of ten hours. The flume is built of two-inch plank 
sixteen feet in length, and twenty and twenty-two 
inches in width. These boards are placed the bottom 
of one on the flat edge of the other, and securely 




NEVADA. 49 

nailed with large spike nails, forming a V shaped box. 
After the flume bed has been laid with stringers prop- 
erly graded, the boxes are put in place and securely 
supported by generally five bracket bearings to each 
box. The brackets are made with arms extending 
enough to admit of another two-inch plank ten or 
twelve inches in width, being placed in on either side 
if necessary. Then a head of water is turned on at 
the upper end of the flume and it is ready for opera- 
tion. Sometimes fifty men can be seen throwing in 
wood without checking its movement in the least. 
When at the yard, running lumber, I have seen one 
hundred and thirty-four thousand feet run from the yard 
in a single hour. I have seen green sticks of timber 
forty feet long, sixteen by eighteen inches square, 
thrown in and run along with more ease than a boat 
through the water. 

Miles of flume can be seen at this date extending 
up along the mountain sides, used to flume wood to 
Carson. Large bodies of men are everywhere at work 
cutting wood. The timber around the lake is pine of 
different varieties, white and red fir, spruce, and tama- 
rack. All grow to large size. The forest land around 
Lake Tahoe is very rough, broken, and of no value 
except for the timber that is on it. 

But to return to the Comstock Mines. The mines 
are very deep and the deeper down they go the hotter 
they become. Vast quantities of water are continually 
running in and are as rapidly pumped to the top by 
mammoth machinery. The water is hoisted twenty- 



50 HOW I KNOW, 

three hundred feet out of some of the deepest loca- 
tions. A few years ago they claimed that they hoisted 
through their pumps fish without eyes; they were 
living when found, but, after being exposed to the 
cold air on the surface, soon died. The heat on the 
lower levels of the Comstock Lode is intense,j vary- 
ing according to particular parts visited, but averaging 
about one hundred and forty degrees. Air pumps are 
constantly at work, forcing down cool air, and at the 
same time tons of ice are being lowered. And yet it 
is more like traveling in an oven that is heated and still 
heating than in the pure breezes from off Mt. David- 
son. Eight hours constitute a day's work down in these 
depths, where no light except the feeble flicker of the 
miner's candle ever shines to guide him on his narrow 
pathway underneath the ground. The miners' wages 
average four dollars a day. 

The Comstock Lode and Sutro Tunnel Company 
entered into an agreement in 1866 to tap and drain the 
lode. The tunnel was commenced at what is now 
Sutro City, and was pushed along under the super- 
vision of Mr. Sutro. Millions of money have been 
expended in the undertaking. They now think they 
will be able to use it by the first of June, 1879. Mr. 
Sutro estimates that, after the mines are drained, con- 
nections with the tunnel made, and cross-cutting under 
way, the average daily output of ore will be three thou- 
sand tons, a great portion of which will be first-class or 
good ore. The Tunnel Company expect to reap bene- 
fits in many ways, viz: by revenues they will receive 



NEVADA. 51 

for the use of the tunnel for purposes of transportation, 
furnishing fire-wood, timber, compressed air, water for 
power, irrigation, mill supplies, etc. 

The climate of Nevada is cold in Winter and pleas- 
ant in Summer. All through the Sierra Nevada range 
deep snow falls, and covers the ground until late in the 
Spring, in many places not melting off entirely at all, but 
remaining until snow falls again. 

A few years ago, in going from Lake Tahoe down 
to Carson City, while on that part of the road lying be- 
tween Mr. Spooner's and the Flinne camp, I passed 
through a tunnel of snow for several hundred feet, 
where the snow had been shoveled out along the side 
of the wagon road and wood had been hauled in and 
burned to melt the snow. I do not know how thick 
the roof of the tunnel was, but I know it was on the 
fourth day of July that I passed through it. Large for- 
ests of the finest of timber lying between the lake and 
Eagle Valley have all been cut and used for the ben- 
efit of the Comstock Mines. 

There are a great many horses and cattle scattered 
throughout the State, but not in droves and herds, such as 
are seen on the plains and bench lands of Utah or Col- 
orado. Farming is not a success in Nevada for many 
reasons. The seasons are too short. There is gener- 
ally frost every month in the year, or, at least, I found 
it so during my stay in the State. 

Hot Springs abound all along the valley of the Hum- 
boldt. Some of these springs are situated entirely 
alone, while others lie very near springs of cold water. 



52 



HOJV I KNOW. 



I remember having seen a hot and cold spring so near 
together that the two hands could be placed one in 
each spring at the same time. Some of these springs 
are very shallow, while others extend to unknown or, 
at least, unsounded depths. 

The valleys are covered with alkali, varying from a 
thin sheet to three inches in thickness. The water 




HUMBOLDT PALISADES. 



Standing in drains, ponds, and lakes in the valleys is 
all brackish, containing a vast amount of alkaH. In 
many places travelers and wagon trains, passing to and 
fro, laden with freight, suffer to the utmost extremity 
for the want of fresh water, since all the fresh-water 
streams from the mountains have sunk and disappeared 
on the bench lands, ere they reach the low lands or 



NEVADA. 53 

valleys. It is nothing uncommon to see animals of bur- 
den lying dead along the roads, killed by drinking this 
alkahne water. You meet travelers and freighters go- 
ing and coming in all directions, with sore and inflamed 
eyes, oftentimes so bad that they are unable to see; lips 
parched, cracked, and often swollen far beyond their 
usual size; gums sore; throat and lungs sometimes 
so painful that it is with great effort the individual can 
eat or speak — all arising from the winds and the dust 
that sweep along over these alkahne plains. Nevada 
deserts are very bad; but I will point out further along 
some locahties where the Humboldt or Walker River 
valleys would be pleasant by comparison. 



54 



HOW I KNOW, 



CHAPTER IV. 



CALIFORNIA. 



IN going from Nevada to the coast, one traverses 
over three hundred and twenty-four miles of rail- 
road, between Carson City and San Francisco. The 
enchanting views of this whole distance will awaken 




DONNER LAKE. 

the traveler's keenest admiration. Donner Lake is not 
equaled in grandeur and picturesqueness anywhere in 
the East. It is three and one-half miles long by one 



CALIFORNIA. 



55 



in width. It lies at the base of the Sierra range, two 
miles west of Truckee. It is hemmed in on three sides 
by the Sierras, and a more beautiful place is hard to 
find. The lake is filled with fish. There are three 
kinds of trout and a few other kinds of fish. The lake 
is entirely surrounded by forests of magnificent growth. 
One of the attractive places about the lake is Pulpit 
Rock in Echo Canon, where the voice will be repeated 
so often and distinctly that it -^^j^^—---^"^"^^^ 
produces a pecuHarly pleasing 
and interesting effect. This is 
the place the Donners perished 
in 1846. They were on their 
way to the valleys of California 
from Illinois. Here they be^- 
came hemmed in by snow, only 
a portion of their number es- 
caping and that after undergoing 
terrible suffering and hardship 
in traveling through mountains 
and canons across the range, in 
search of some one to go to the pulpit rock, echo canon. 
relief of their comrades. A party finally went to their 
rescue, but only to find them all dead, except one, a 
German, who, it is said, was subsisting on a portion of 
Mrs. Donner's body when found, and was in a most 
wretched condition. 

There are a great many stories in circulation con- 
cerning Donner Lake. The Indians claim that the 
place where the lake now is was formerly a volcano's 




56 HOW I KNOW. 

crater, and discharged hot cinders, fire and smoke con- 
tinually. Whether this be true or not, I do not pre- 
tend to say. I was told that the Lake had been 
sounded to the depth of two thousand feet without 
finding bottom. 

But Donner Lake takes its name from the unfortu- 
nates who perished there in one of those dreadful storms 
that pass over that region of the Sierras every Winter, 
where the snow sometimes falls to the depth of ten or 
twelve feet. Traveling is then out of the question, un- 
less provided with snow-shoes; and then one unaccus- 
tomed to their use would find it difficult and laborious 
to make any progress. 

Going north from here one comes to the Sierra Val- 
ley, where there is an abundance of grass in the sum- 
mer; but farming is limited as the altitude is so high 
that it is liable to freeze any night during the Summer 
months. But this is still in a mining region, and mining is, 
directly or indirectly, the leading occupation of the set- 
tlers. Farther north we pass through Plumas, Tehama, 
Shasta, Lassen, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, all noted 
for their mining industries. The mountains are full of 
holes and tunnels. The gulches have been washed 
over and over through strings of sluices, and still the 
miner is washing- away with as much or more energy 
and ambition than in the years of '50 and '51. Sierra 
County has been the scene of excitement ever since 
gold was discovered in 1847. Thousands of dollars 
have been brought into Downieville day after day as a 
reward for the early and successful prospector. Ditches 



CALIFORNIA. 57 

have been run for miles to convey water for washing 
down— by the use of hydraulic ram — whole sides of high 
bars or mountains, as I might term them. ^ 

I have often been asked how gold looks in the earth; 
in what form it is generally found, and of what size are 
the nuggets. The last two questions admit of a num- 
ber of answers. The first question I will answer by 
saying that persons who can recognize gold after it has 
been taken from the earth, and refined and cleaned, 
would generally recognize it when seen in quartz rock, 
or in nuggets, in the sand and gravel. Gold most always 
has its distinctive bright yellow appearance, although I 
have sometimes seen it when it seemed to be covered 
with a coat of rust. When this is the case the color 
of the outside coating varies greatly. The gold I have 
seen so shaded has generally been where the water was 
saturated with different combinations of minerals. 

The second question I will answer by stating that all 
gold is formed in quartz, and quartz (not float quartz) 
generally lies in veins. Where it does not, there has been 
a general upheaval of the earth's surface, grinding and 
mingling it into one conglomerate mass. In a case of 
this kind the quartz is in confusion and is scattered ir- 
regularly throughout the locality of such visitation. The 
veins of quartz are found in crevices in rocks of a pre- 
vious formation. Veins are either of a different material 
or like that of the surrounding rock; in either case the 
filling-up of the vein has succeeded the formation of 
the country rock. 

Bishop Mohr says, as to the formation of these crev- 



58 HO W I KNO W. 

ices : " There seems to be no doubt that they have 
their origin in the rending of the crust of the earth, 
caused by plutonic or volcanic action in the interior of 
the earth, or by the formation and lifting of newly- 
formed masses from lower depths into higher regions, 
and a consequent rending of the overlying rocks. As 
the latter are lifted into higher regions of the globe, 
^which have a larger diameter, these masses must of 
course break, or separate, and become detached from 
the neighboring rocks, producing chasms and crevices. 
The material with which these crevices are filled out 
has entered from below, from above, or from the neigh- 
boring strata, as a solution, either from the country 
rocks, or from deeper regions. 

Water was very likely the principal medium, which, 
together perhaps with some gases, acted as a receiver 
for the particles of metal and other substances which lay 
distributed in the different strata of rocks, and depos- 
ited them, far more concentrated, by a slow and often 
repeated process." The uneven distribution of minerals 
in veins, the often symmetric and parallel texture of 
veins, as well as their composition, so different often 
from that of the neighboring rocks, seems to be proof 
for this explanation. Veins are usually found within 
those places where the surrounding country rock is in 
a decomposed state. 

Some scientists cling to the idea that veins are 
formed entirely by the heating process. I will not en^ 
deavor to dispute with them. But one thing I will say, 
that the walls of veins show nowhere the action of fire, 



CALIFORNIA. 



59 



as would be the case where the wall-rock was of a 
nature difficult to fuse. Now this is where the gold in 
veins is obtained, the metal is distributed throughout 
this vein matter, and often in very rich rock or ore the 




SCENE NEAR EAGLE LAKE, CALIFORNIA. 

particles are so small that the eye can not discover a 
trace either of gold or silver. At other times the rock, 
or ore, will be dotted throughout with grains of gold, 
sometimes with golden wires woven together, and then 



60 HOW I KNOW. 

again small nuggets can be picked from the ore with a 
pocket knife. 

Placer mining is for gold that has been thrown from 
these veins where the rock has become softened and 
has been washed from the mother vein. The gold, 
owing to its very heavy nature, is left deposited along 
the gulches, in canons, and along the mountain sides, 
and bench lands. The earth, where the gold has been 
thus deposited, is then washed in different ways and by 
different processes, until it passes away, leaving the 
grains of gold. It is seen, therefore, that gold in not all 
in nuggets; but, on the contrary, some of it is in grains 
so fine that the eye can not see it until it is gathered 
together through the washing and cleaning process. 
Again, there have been some large pieces found. The 
largest that was ever found in California was brought 
to light by John J. Finney, one of the Shasta County 
pioneers, who now resides near French Gulch. He un- 
earthed it in the early mining times in California, about 
ten miles from Downieville, Sierra County. It was a 
chunk of solid gold that weighed five thousand one 
hundred and twenty ounces. This is said to be the best 
day's work ever done by a single miner. But John, 
like the most of old miners, is still prospecting for hid- 
den wealth. 

Going on to the North, from here, we pass through 
Lassen County. Large forests of pine and fir hem us 
in on all sides. We move on past Honey Lake, a 
picturesque place, and a sight that will be impressed 
forever upon the memory. A little farther on we come 



CALIFORNIA. 61 

to Eagle Lake. There we turn and go into Siskiyou 
County, and soon we are at the base of old Mt. Shasta. 
We can then then look up to the top, where she rears 
her head for over fourteen thousand feet; and there she 
stands, with snow for a perpetual 
covering, and clouds dashing like 
billows all around her. No timber 
grows upon the top, of course. 

The Yosemite Valley, California, 
is situated on the Merced River, 
in the southern part of Mariposa 
County. It is on the western slope 
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
near the center of 




the State, North and 
South. The valley is 
small, being but eight 
miles in length and 
three-quarters of a 
mile in width. It is 
enclosed with granite 
walls rising with al- 
most unbroken and 
perpendicular faces to 
the dizzy height of 
from three thousand the two guardsmen. 

to six thousand feet above the green valley beneath. 
Yosemite is the Indian name for grizzly bear. This 
place is and will be preserved for public use. At Crane 
Flat there is a small grove of the mammoth trees of 



62 HOW I KNOW. 

Mariposa. There are two of these trees, called The 
Two Guardsmen, growing from the same root, which 
measure one hundred and fourteen feet in circumference, 
and are of corresponding height. 

From the brink of the basin to the valley beneath 
measures four thousand feet. In order to get a descent 
at this point a trail over seven miles in length has been 
blasted and worked out of the rock. After the descent 
is made, you find yourself in what has been well called 
the "Garden of the Gods." Around you towers some of 
the grandest scenery that the world contains. The stu- 
penduously massive walls seem, as it were, to be closing 
in around you from all sides. The valley in which 
you stand, the fertility of which is unsurpassed on the 
continent, is beautifully set in grass. 

Here we are able to look upon Nature in all of her 
grandeur. The lofty walls lifting themselves to a per- 
pendicular height of four or five thousand feet; the water 
gushing out of the many springs that are everywhere 
around you, to fall many hundreds of feet below, there 
to mingle with the waters of the beautiful Merced River. 
Looking to the east the eye rests upon the Yosemite, 
spreading out and falling down, like a magnificent bridal 
veil, a distance of twenty-six hundred feet. This is by 
far the highest water-fall in the world. There are nu- 
merous other falls. The Nevada Fall is seven hundred 
feet high. It is a grand and beautiful sight. It is formed 
by the Merced River, a stream several feet in depth and 
from fifty to seventy-five feet in width, continually pour- 
ing its waters over the clifis into the valley. 



CALIFORNIA. 



63 



Standing in the valley on a bright, clear day, one may 
well go into ecstacies over the many magnificent works 




THE YOSEMITE FALLS. 



of nature that crowd upon the view. Here are the gi- 
ants of the forest with a circumference, at the earth, of 
one hundred and six i^oX^ rearing their lofty heads over 



64 HOW I KNOW. 

two hundred and seventy feet into the air. There is one 
lying prostrate, with its whole heart burned out, leaving 
nothinof but the shell. A man can ride on horseback 
for seventy feet right into it, and yet have plenty of room 
to turn a horse of ordinary size around and come out. 
The surrounding country is for fifty or sixty miles dotted 
with little valleys in which these large trees are found all 
the way from thirty to one hundred feet in circumfer- 
ence, and from two hundred to considerably more than 
three hundred feet in height. 

Vegetables grow to an enormous size here. I have 
sometimes thought I would say nothing about this, how- 
ever, for I have my doubts whether the people in the East 
w^ill believe the statements or not. They may think I am 
exaggerating when I say I have here seen single heads 
of cabbage weighing eighty pounds. Melons often weigh 
one hundred pounds, and pumpkins more than that; 
beets are three feet in length; onions as large around as 
a large pie pan; grapes in bunches v^^eighing ten pounds. 

From here v^e will go to the Golden City. I can not 
hope to say more than has been said by others, but jus- 
tice demands that I shall not pass it by without a word. 
The first house was built in San Francisco in the year 
1835. Since then a city Kas sprung up that to-day is 
the leading city of western North America. The town 
was not originally laid out in accordance with any def- 
inite plan, and until a few years ago people continued 
to build in the same irregular way. Then great im- 
provements were set on foot by widening the streets, 
cutting through whole blocks of houses, tearing down 



CALIFORNIA. 



65 



the older buildings, and erecting in their stead better 
and costlier ones. Some magnificent buildings were 
erected, the San Francisco Mining Exchange, built en- 
tirely of marble, being the best and 
handsomest. The Palace Hotel, 
J erected by W. C. Ralston, now dead, 
is said to be the grandest in the 




BRIDAL VEIL FALL, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

United States. Mr. Baldwin's Academy of Music is an 
ornament fit for any European city. So that San Fran- 
cisco is now, the hoodlums excepted, as beautiful a city 
as one can find among any of the port towns of the 

S 



66 HOW I KNOW. 

United States of the same population, hoodlums not 
excepted. 

In addition to this the city is filled with attractions 
of such a number and nature that one need never be at 
a loss for entertainment. North Beach is filled up with 
ancient collections in the shape of cobwebs as old as 
Adam would have been had he not died. The Cliff 
Rocks, a little more remote from the city, is a great 
place of resort. Here one gets a fair view of the 
Pacific Ocean. At this point, a little distance from the 
shore, are cliffs of rocks projecting out of the water. 
These are almost constantly covered with sea lions, roll- 
ing and pitching over another and howling incessantly. 

But, perhaps, the greatest attraction of San Fran- 
cisco is Woodward's Garden. This is a place of which 
one never grows weary. Mr. Woodward has, at a 
great expense of time and money, arranged and opened 
for exhibition a museum, containing, it is said, eighteen 
thousand specimens that have been procured from every 
part of the globe. The museum includes an art gallery, 
filled with the most beautiful painting and statuary to 
be procured in Europe and America. There are green- 
houses, filled with every variety of plants known in 
botany. There is a zoological department, containing 
almost all kinds of wild animals and birds. There is an 
amphitheater, where twenty thousand people may sit 
' and witness the hippodrome performances, such as rac- 
ing, drijls, games of various kinds, and other entertain- 
ments which may be given there. Mr. Woodward is 
continually making additions to his already very ex- 



CALIFORNIA. 



67 



tensive collections. His grounds are magnificently 
shaded with many varieties of shade trees. Everything 
in the collections is arranged and labeled in the most 
systematic manner. Any one that can see and read 
may there view^ intelligently the productions of the 
world. 

The valleys of California are fertile, and vegetation 




A CALIFORNIA STUMP, 



is thriftier there than in most any other place in the 
United States. Wheat has been raised, yielding eighty 
bushels to the acre. Thousands upon thousands of acres 
are sown annually. I have seen one unbroken field of 
waving wheat, extending for over forty miles, without a 
fence or ditch to separate it. The mode of harvesting 
wheat on the Pacific Coast is different from what it is 



68 HOW I KNOW. 

in the Atlantic States. In the West the grain is sown 
either by drill or broadcast. If, after sowing, the ground 
is not moist enough, it is irrigated by letting on water 
until it has become sufficiently wet; then the water is 
shut off again. In this way they regulate the seasons. 
Harvesting wheat is done by machines called " headers," 
which cut the heads of the standing wheat and threshes 
out the grain, sacks and sews up the sacks, all at the 
same time. Ricks of sacked grain can be seen standing 
in every direction over the grain fields during the har- 
vesting. 

It may be as well remarked here that the Pacific 
Coast is subject to rain only at one season during the 
year. That is known as the rainy season. It sets in 
about the month of November, sometimes not until 
later, and closes in February. Sometimes there will be 
but a few days' rain during that period of time. Dur- 
ing other seasons there may be rain for six or seven 
weeks. When it does rain, it often happens that several 
inches of water fall in a very short time. 

The foot-hills of California are covered with a very 
nutritious grass, which during the long summer months 
has the appearance of being all burnt, parched and 
and dried up. It, nevertheless, retains a great deal of 
nutriment. Stock like it and keep fat and sleek as long 
as they can get plenty of it. Alfalfa is raised through- 
out the valleys with flattering success. Sometimes as 
many as four cuttings are procured from the same 
ground during the year. 

Grapes do better in California than in any other part 



CALIFORNIA. 69 

of the United States. Hundreds of acres of vineyards 
can be seen growing throughout the State. Apples, 
peaches, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, and oranges all 
grow there in vast quantities and of as rich and fine a 
quality and flavor as any I have ever seen in the East 
or along the Mississippi Valley. Nuts of all kinds and 
varieties that I know of can be seen growing in many 
of the southern counties. Cotton and tobacco are said 
to do well also. Fish and game abound. If a well-to- 
do man can not enjoy himself in California, it would be 
difficult for him to find enjoyment anywhere on this 
continent. 

Of course the State has many drawbacks. Some- 
times an earthquake shakes up the country considerably, 
to the consternation of its inhabitants. This was the 
case when I was in the State in March, 1872. I had 
been at VandaHa, in Tulare County, for several days. 
The weather had been very pleasant and sunshiny — 
rather warm, with not a cloud to be seen. But at two 
o'clock, on the morning of March 26th, I was awakened 
by the windows rattling and the house cracking and 
shaking in a violent manner. I had not been thinking 
of an earthquake, neither did I realize that there was 
then one already at hand. The building seemed to be 
moving as on a wagon that was run over a hard, rough 
road. I did not remain long in bed, for I thought the 
house would surely soon fall down. When I got upon 
my feet I could scarcely stand. Then I was sure that 
the house was being meddled with in some violent man- 
ner, for it was shaking in such a way that it gave me 



70 



HO W I KNO W. 



feelings which no pen can express. For once, if never 
before, I was terribly scared. The oscillations were so 
short, and in such quick succession, that I was con- 
tinually bounced about in such a manner that it was 




NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SCENERY. 



with great difficulty I could dress myself There was 
no more sleep for me, for the shocks continued the 
remainder of the night; and the whole of the next 
day shocks could be repeatedly felt. The shocks, on 



CALIFORNIA. 71 

this occasion, were felt the whole length of California, 
and into Mexico on the south, and as far east as Win- 
nemucca, in Nevada, covering an area seven hundred 
and fifty miles long, by nearly five hundred miles broad. 
The center of the shock was in portions of Kern and 
Inyo Counties, including a desert country along the 
border Hne between Cahfornia and Nevada. 

In this part of the country the Sierra Nevada range 
breaks off into a number of detached ranges, so that, in 
San Bernardino and San Diego Counties, the range 
disappears entirely, as far as its distinctive features are 
concerned. All this region bears evidence of volcanic 
eruptions, some of which must have been of a very 
recent date. Here alkaline lakes, salfataras, hot springs, 
and mud volcanoes are still seen. In the north-eastern 
part of San Bernardino County is " Death's Valley;" said 
to be far below the level of the sea, while the sur- 
rounding mountains are not less than five thousand feet 
above it. Still further south, in San Bernardino County, 
north of the trail leading from Fort Mojave by way of 
the sink of Mojave, the Mojave Desert and River, to Los 
Angelos, there are numerous volcanic craters, rising to 
heights of from fifty to tw^o hundred feet above the des- 
olate plain, still as perfect as when their fires went out. 
The earth is covered with lava for many miles in width, 
and extending to the borders of the Colorado Desert. 
Hot mineral springs, volcanic ashes in vast beds, lava, 
pumice stone, and other evidences of comparatively 
recent volcanic disturbance, are found in abundance. 

It is supposed the Dry Lakes in Bernardino County, 



72 



HOW I KNOW. 



in the Colorado Desert, was the bed of the sea at a very 
distant date, and that its present condition is the result 
of volcanic action. The ancient water-Hne, which is 
still distinctly marked by sedimentary discoloration, can 
be seen extending along the side of the San Gorgonio 
Mountain, south of San Gorgonio Pass, for some fifty 
miles. At Dos Palmas, a water station on the north- 




CAPE HORN, CENTRAL PACIFIC R. R. 

eastern side of the Colorado Desert, on the trail from 
San Bernardino, by way of San Gorgonio Pass, to La 
Paz, on the Colorado River, in 1868, an earthquake 
opened a large fissure in the earth, from which flowed a 
stream of cold water. The fissure is but a short dis- 
tance from the great hot spring of Dos Palmas, which 
is still flowing, but is said to have become much cooler 



CALIFORNIA. 73 

since that event. At Fort Tejon, in the south-eastern 
part of Kern County, several years ago the earth was 
rent into a chasm. 

At Lone Pine, when the terrible earthquake visited 
that section, in 1872, the inhabitants were awakened by 
a loud explosion followed by a terrible upheaval and 
shaking of the earth from north to south. The whole 
town was instantly in ruins, not a building being left 
standing. Colonel Whipple, who was in Lone Pine at 
the time, was sleeping, he says, in the second story of an 
adobe house; and stated that he just had time to jump' 
from bed and get to the doorway when the house ap- 
peared to crumble to pieces beneath him, and he was 
buried in the ruins; but succeeded in extricating himself, 
though suffering from several painful but not dangerous 
wounds. He reports that the scenes which ensued beg- 
gared description. Screams and groans and cries for 
help rent the air in all directions, for nearly the whole 
population of the town was buried beneath the ruins. 
The first shock was followed in quick succession by 
three others. In fact, the earth was in a constant shock 
and tremble for over three hours. A chasm was opened 
extending thirty-five miles down the valley, ranging from 
three inches to forty feet in width. Rocks were torn 
from their places and rolled down into the valley. 

Everywhere through the valley are to be seen evi- 
dences of the terrible convulsion of nature. Before 
each shock an explosion was heard which seemed to 
be directly underneath. Over six hundred distinct 
shocks were felt within fifty-eight hours after the first. 



74 HOW I KNOW. 

At Tibbet's ranch, fifteen miles above Independence, 
forty acres of ground sunk seven feet below the surface 
of the surrounding country. Big Owens Lake rose four 
feet. Owens River overflowed its banks, and shoals of 
fish were left on the shore for a distance of four miles. 
Through Lone Pine the earth cracked, and on one side 
it sunk seven or eight feet, leaving a wall of earth over 
three miles in length where formerly was level country. 
Innumerable cracks were made throughout the valley, 
and the Kern and Owens Rivers turned and ran up 
stream for several minutes, leaving the beds dry, and 
returned with swollen volume. 

There had been no parallel to this earthquake since 
1812, when the missions San Juan, Capistrano, and La 
Purissima, in South California, were destroyed. 



THE CHINESE. 75 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CHINESE. 

FOR upward of thirty years there has been a stream 
of Chinese immigration to the western part of the 
United States. The Chinese are of a very short but 
symmetrical build, with a face larger in proportion to 
the size of the skull, than in the European race, and 
round instead of oval in shape. The eyes are very 
small, deep, and obliquely set, with a color resembling 
that of the almond. Nearly all that come to the coast 
are of a dirty brown or swarthy complexion, although you 
occasionally meet one of yellow, olive, or sallow color. 

Their hair is all shaved off smooth and clean around 
the head, leaving only a small place on the top of the 
head where the hair is allowed to grow. This tuft is 
braided into a single strand, and that is lengthened out 
with other braiding material, so much so that oftentimes 
it trails upon the ground behind. While at work this 
queue is generally arranged in a coil around the top 
part of the head. 

Their manner of dressing differs from the European 
custom. Their clothing is usually clean and tidy enough; 
but it is on the " too muchee loosee " fitting order, and 
is made after the models of their own fashions. They 
wear wooden shoes; but not after the Holland wooden 
shoe pattern, for their shoes are small and finely finished. 



76 HOW J KNOW. 

Their hats are made from the splittings of the bamboo 
tree, plaited after the manner of straw hats here, with a 
very narrow and shallow crown, and a rim from seven 
to ten inches wide. 

There are now one hundred and twenty-five thou- 
sand Chinese in the State of California, the greater 
portion of whom live in San Francisco. Most of 
these people are virtually in a condition of servitude. 
"Why, how is that?" some one asks. The answer can 
be given in a few words. The Chinese who are brought 
to this country are of a very poor class in their own 
land. They are destitute of money, and even of the 
common necessities of life. There are in San Francisco 
six different companies importing them; or, in words 
a little harsher, making slaves of them, and that to as 
great an extent as ever was true of the negroes in the 
South. 

Wages for all kinds of labor in the Chinese Empire 
are extremely low, amounting, generally, only to about 
seven cents per day in our money. In some cases the 
wages are a little higher. Here, briefly stated, is 
what is to-day causing so much disturbance in the 
West on this subject. These six companies have 
agents in the different ports of China. Whenever 
any new enterprise is undertaken on the Pacific slope 
requiring great numbers of workmen, these companies 
hire in China, at the low rates for labor paid there, as 
many laborers as can be worked — millions could be 
hired, if necessary — and bring them over and hire them 
out again. Now, some one of these companies, by vir- 



THE CHINESE. 77 

tue of the contract and agreement made and entered 
into in China, becomes, to all intents and purposes, the 
owner of the persons so imported, until they have 
earned their freedom according to the terms of their 
contract. From the terms of this contract there can be 
no variation. These six companies, of course, pocket 
the difference between what they give and what they 
receive for these laborers, giving their chattleman such 
meager credit on his account that he will be compelled 
to work a long time to gain his freedom. 

The Chinese who emigrate to this country do not 
become citizens. Applications for naturalization papers 
have been made time and again, and have as often failed 
to be granted. They are called " heathen Chinese " be- 
cause they have their "Big Josh" in all their temples; 
that is, an idol which they worship. 

They have their own judicial tribunals, before which 
they try and punish offenders, in all grades of crime 
that may be registered against them. There is a secret 
order among them, known as the "Hoeys," the object 
of which is to protect their own countrymen from 
American or State laws, and to enforce laws of their 
own making. Their tribunals are held in secret, and 
they administer such punishment as they see fit. The 
penalty of death is enforced very often for the most 
trivial offenses, such as neglecting to pay a debt. If the 
culprit is not in custody when the offense with which 
he is charged is investigated, and he is decided to be 
guilty, then rewards for his assassination are offered, 
written in Chinese characters and publicly posted. It 



78 HOW I KNOW. 

is with great difficulty that Chinese criminals are con- 
victed in our courts. Officers are bribed to release 
them from custody, and Chinamen witnesses in court 
will commit perjury to get them clear, in order that 
they may be tried before their own tribunals. A China- 
man stands in utter fear of telling the truth in our 
courts, if it should tend to convict a countryman, for he 
knows that he is sure to lose his life if he does not aid 
in defeating the administration of justice to them before 
our tribunals. At the same time the Chinese will use 
our laws before their own tribunals, to prosecute inno- 
cent men, in addition to enforcing their own. 

The Chinese occupy their own quarters in the city, 
where they live more after the manner of herding ani- 
mals or swarming insects than intelligent human beings. 
Their houses are compact, one against the other, with 
very small rooms, all of which on the inside are of the 
dirtiest, smokiest color. Paint, whitewash, and scrub- 
brooms are unknown to the Chinese. Often small 
rooms not more than eight or ten feet square^ will be 
the abode of ten or twelve Chinamen, with bunks ar- 
ranged as in barracks. There they will lie and smoke 
opium and gamble their hours of idleness away. 

The Chinese are termed " Coolies " in popular West- 
ern phrase. That is a word used to designate all day- 
laborers of the East Indian and neighboring countries, 
where they unlade vessels, bear the palanquins of the 
wealthy, push and pull the clumsy two-wheeled carts, 
or carry such things as their employers desire in net-like 
bags, suspended from the two ends of a bamboo pole, rest- 



THE CHINESE. 



79 



ing on their shoulders. These Chinese coolies are rude 
in manner and noisy, but good-humored and fond of 




CHINESE CHARTER, SAN FRANCISCO. 

amusement. Numbers of them can be worked in very 
small places in ditching, shoveling, picking, blasting, 
v^orking in sections in railroad cuts or in making roads, 



80 HOW I KNOW. 

etc. They are not capable of doing as much work as 
Americans when put to the test; yet they generally ac- 
complish as much or more than many Americans really 
like to do. Much the larger number of Chinese that 
are imported to this country are adult males. It is 
estimated that there are four thousand Chinese females 
in San Francisco, with a great many more scattered 
at various places throughout the West. 

There has been petitioning and legislating in Cali- 
fornia for a long time in an effort to prevent the Chi- 
nese from coming there; but, strange to say, that is 
done mostly by a set of men who are foreigners by 
birth themselves. The more distinguished and thought- 
ful of our own countrymen say this: "The summary 
disturbance of our existing treaties with China is greatly 
inconvenient to the much wider and more prominent 
interests of the country." The Chinese question has 
been disturbing the minds of the Western people for a 
long time, and, doubtless, will continue so to do for 
some time to come. I think that John would have 
been much happier if he had never wandered away 
from the home of his idols. 

But now let me speak a few words in general terms 
in behalf of the State of California. This State has 
been wonderfully prosperous since its admission into the 
Union, by reason of its great natural resources and its 
singularly energetic and enterprising population. It has 
probably more wealth per capita of its population than 
most other States of the Union, or, perhaps, countries 



THE CHINESE. 81 

'of the world. It, no doubt, has also the materials of 
progress on a larger scale than has ever existed on any 
other similar area. 

The two principal cities are San Francisco and Sacra- 
mento. The business of these two places consists chiefly 
in trading upon the wealth produced from the soil. The 
principal element of the future growth of the State will 
consist in the settlement of the lands by desirable oc- 
cupants. The lands are naturally very rich and fertile; 
besides they are situated in an unrivaled climate. 
Southern California can boast of what but few, if 
any, other parts of our country can rightfully claim 
to possess, and that is a mean difference of temper- 
ature of 15.88. I do not know of a more healthy 
spot anywhere to reside in, and at the same time reap 
a large reward for industry. These lands have all to 
be irrigated. There are irrigating canals and ditches 
along and adjoining every ranch that is tilled. 

They have been colonizing the State for a few years 
back, and an earnest interest has been taken in pro- 
moting the immigration of large numbers. In Califor- 
nia the Federal, State, and County governments, the 
settlers upon lands, and the citizens of the commercial 
marts — all take a common interest in the promotion of 
and working for the welfare of individual and joint en- 
terprises. 

The Federal Government has several million acres 
of surveyed lands yet to sell in the State. The area 
of the State of California alone is one hundred and 
twenty milHon nine hundred and forty-seven thousand 



82 HOW I KNOW. 

eight hundred and forty acres, of which thirty-four mill- 
ion acres have been surveyed by the officers of the 
Federal Government. Of the quantity surveyed, not 
more than twenty milHon acres have been disposed of, 
leaving as much as fourteen million acres of surveyed 
lands in the hands of the Federal Government. Over 
two-thirds of the State lands are unsurveyed. 

The entire present population of the State is less 
than one million. The Federal Government has given 
three million two hundred thousand acres of the 
lands in the State to railroads, in order that the 
value of the whole may be improved by facilitating 
transportation. If a railroad company receives a grant 
of land for the purpose of bringing the whole within the 
reach of market, an irrigation company, whose object is 
to insure the crops of all those lands, certainly has an 
equal claim to aid, the more so when the canals which 
irrigate the lands also complete the means of transport- 
ing the crops. 

I have tried to do justice to California and the good 
people of the State. I have traveled the State over, and, 
while doing so, I have met with a warm-hearted recep- 
tion from all. May they ever live in enjoyment of all 
the bountiful blessings of peace and prosperity. 

My visit here is ended. I shall now visit Oregon and 
see it, that I may be able to compare for my own satis- 
faction and that of the reader the different shades and 
experiences of life there. 



OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 83' 



CHAPTER VI. 

OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 

PORTLAND, Oregon, is six hundred and seventy- 
five miles, by water, from San Francisco. Ore- 
gon is like California in some respects; in others it 
differs from all the rest of the country along the Pacific 
coast. Portland is a thriving city, with, perhaps, thir- 
teen thousand inhabitants. Along the coast w^arm 
breezes from off the ocean constantly blow inland. In 
Summer the atmosphere is perfectly delightful and 
healthy; in Winter it is colder, owing to the winds 
coming down from the Cascade Mountains on the 
east. Yet, it is not so cold as to freeze hard, ex- 
cept at a high altitude. Some of the valleys are very 
fertile, with a good depth of soil, covered with the finest 
grass and beautiful flowers, affording natural attrac- 
tions of a richness seldom met with elsewhere. 

There is splendid water and an abundance of fish in 
all the streams that are not of an alkaHne or brackish 
character. The State can never have a dense popula- 
tion, for the valleys I have referred to above, are small 
and in many places settled thickly enough already. In 
the southern and south-eastern part of the State the val- 
leys are not so good, and are often covered with vast 
beds of sand, alkali, and fields of lava. Much of this 
part of the State is almost a desert, with only here and 



84 



HOW I KNOW. 



there a small piece of fertile and watered ground upon 
which the squatter may settle. The greater portion of this 
part of the State is worthless and must ever remain so. 
The Columbia River, which forms the boundary line 
between Washington Territory and the State of Ore- 
gon is one of the grandest streams in the North-west. 
This mighty river has cut its way through solid rock 




RAPIDS OF THE UPPER COLUMBIA. 

for nearly its whole length above the cascades. Here 
may be seen an instance of what Nature by her mys- 
terious forces can accomplish. By the constant attri- 
tion of water, vast mountains of rock have been soft- 
ened and worn away, leaving the harder portions of the 
rock standing in all kinds of fanciful and grotesque 
forms, like the ruins of some ancient castle. After 



OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 85 

passing the cascades one is soon enclosed in forests 
of beautiful timber, composed principally of large and 
thrifty trees of red-wood, pine and other varieties. 

In many places along the Cascade range the mount- 
ains are barren and unproductive of either timber or 
other vegetation. Here are high walls of rock, some- 
times perpendicular, at other times more sloping. Huge 
bowlders are piled up in confusion as high and even 
higher than the clouds. But, where the ranges are not 
too high and there is a sufficient quantity of soil and 
moisture, large trees cover the mountain sides, while 
there is such a dense thicket of underbrush, so filled with 
old logs and broken branches of trees, that there is no 
pleasure in making an exploration through these forests. 

Hundreds of little squirrels may here be seen playing 
about at any time. Let a person or any other moving 
object be espied and they set to chattering with all 
their might. Sometimes five or six will be seen gath- 
ered together, viewing the same object. If the object 
of their curiosity ceases to move, they become more 
bold and will approach cautiously nearer and nearer, 
until they will sometimes climb upon and run over the 
person. As soon as they learn that there is no danger, 
they become very familiar, playful, and amusing. These 
little squirrels are found in all parts of the West, filling 
the woods with their constant and saucy chatter. 

The lava beds of Oregon, the scene of the celebrated 
Modoc war a few years ago, form a very singular place. 
This has been at some time, ages ago, the seat or center 
of some large volcano. There the rock has been melted 



86 



HOW I KNOW, 



SO that it would boil and run like water. The upheaval 
in places has been very great. The rock, in cooling off 




VIEW IN THE MODOC COUNTRY. 



after it had been melted and thrown out, has assumed 
something of a sponge-like appearance. There are 



OREGON AND WASHINGTON 87 

holes, tunnels, caverns, caves, ridges, defiles, canons — 
all running in perpendicular, horizontal and oblique di- 
rections. I was afraid to venture far into any of the 
openings in so much darkness, so I did not explore them 
to any distance. 

This lava has been throw^n up and is spread out 
over thousands and thousands of acres of land. In this 
region water is not at all abundant, and when obtained 
it is not good, having a soft, warm, brackish, disagree- 
able and unhealthy taste. In this part of the State the 
climate is hot in Summer, the hot winds and sun beat- 
ing down on the pummice that covers the country, 
making the shade much preferable to the roads. 

But, returning a little to the north again, we find 
some small valleys where vegetation is abundant. Cat- 
tle, horses, and sheep are found here in as good con- 
dition as anywhere, and of a finer quality than can 
be found in many of the other western States and 
Territories. No finer blooded animals can be bousfht 
at reasonable prices in the eastern States. Animals 
imported here from other parts of the country, after 
becoming acclimated, do well. 

In the Willamette Valley all the way back from 
Portland, the cHmate is very remarkable. It is surpris- 
ing to see here, so far in the North, such a tempera- 
ture. Here they have but two seasons. Winter and Sum- 
mer, each having its pleasant and rainy weather. 

The grass is green in Oregon nearly the whole year. 
The valleys along the coast are very productive, both 
in quantity and quality. The yield of wheat on the 



88 



HOW I KNOW. 



Pacific slope is good, as is generally known, and Ore- 
gon is no exception. All other grains are raised almost 
or quite to perfection. Small grains are perfectly at 




VIEW ON THE OREGON COAST. 



home in Oregon. I have seen farmers feeding peas to 
their horses and hogs, and the animals looked healthy 
and fat. It is claimed that this feed is as cheap as corn 
in the western States. 



OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 89 

Fruit of all kinds is raised in the greatest of pro- 
fusion, and is remarkable for its great size and excellent 
flavor. Although California fruit is justly in good rep- 
utation, Oregon apples are, nevertheless, exported to 
San Francisco, where they bring an advanced price on 
account of their excellence. Vegetables that come 
from here to the San Francisco market are held in high 
favor. Potatoes, especially, that are exported to the 
southern coast markets are prized highly, and find ready 
sale at an advanced price in preference to those of 
home production. 

Washington Territory is very similar to Oregon in 
productiveness, though the yield is generally less per 
acre than that of Oregon. Even in Winter the ice 
never obstructs the passage of vessels along the coast. 
Boats and vessels are coming and leaving all the time. 

Washington Territory possesses many gigantic trees 
of different varieties. Here lumber is sawed by millions 
of feet daily, and shipped to various parts of the world. 
Hundreds of men and teams are employed in cutting 
and moving these mammoth trees to the mills, where 
they are sawed into lumber and loaded on vessels that 
do nothing else but ply back and forth in the lumber 
traffic. In the mountains of the Territory the weather 
is cold — dreadful cold — and people perish every Winter. 

There is an abundance of splendid fish in the Terri- 
tory, and some game; but game is not so plentiful as it 
is on the east side of the mountains, or further south. 
There are still some Indians here, as in Oregon; but in 
both places they are disposed to be both sociable and 



90 



IIOIV I KNOW. 



peaceable. They live a very hard and uncomfortable 
sort of life, dressed either very poorly or not at all. 
They are too lazy either to hunt, fish, or farm. But lit- 
tle need be said of the Indians here, how^ever, since I 
shall treat the whole subject fully in a later chapter. 

The scenery of the whole north-western part of the 
United States is grand. There are gradually-ascending 
slopes for miles and miles, where the unbroken forest 
conceals the ground from view. Here and there, by a 
bold projection, the mountains lift themselves upward, 
sometimes to heights far above the timber line. In such 
cases there they stand enveloped in snow for nearly the 
whole year. 



MEXICO. 



91 



CHAPTER VII. 



MEXICO. 



I SPENT eleven months in Mexico. I found the 
Mexicans to be a truly democratic people, there 
being no distinction of caste among them. The rich and 
poor meet socially on the same footing, often sharing 
together the same sleeping apartment. However, in dry 
seasons, all classes seem to prefer to sleep in the open air. 

The climate of Mex- -n^^^^^^:=:^ -^^ 

ico is determined chiefly c .egss It ^^^ ^^^^ vf^^ 
by elevation. On the 
coast it is hot; temperate 
on the slopes, and cold 
on the table lands and in 
the higher ranges of the 
Sierra Madre. Some of 
the valleys of Mexico are 
so situated that their climate is one perpetual Spring. 
The coasts of Mexico produce all the plants indige- 
nous to hot cHmates. The table lands produce the 
plants of the temperate zones, and the higher mountains 
those that grow farther north. 

The Mexicans, though hospitable and often magnan- 
imous, are, nevertheless, generally vindictive, cruel, 
and treacherous. Intellectually, they are an inferior 
race of people. The natives of Mexico are devoid 




BORDER MEXICANS. 



92 , HOW I KNOW. 

of enterprise, and almost wholly neglect all public 
and private improvements. Mexico, as every one 
knows, is noted for its mining industries. They 
have good mines in several of their States. The States 
of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Durango claiming 
the best, with the greatest yield of gold and silver. 
The Mexicans themselves have been mining in differ- 
ent localities of these States for long over a century. 
Some of their mines, properly worked, are probably 
capable of producing more than the world-renowned 
Comstock Lode, in Nevada. 

But the manner in which the Mexican people work 
their mines is such that they would not be able to take 
out any great wealth in years of toil. Americans have 
often gone into Mexico to prospect and mine; but have 
as often been visited by the prowling bandits, who live in 
the mountains, and have either been killed or had to flee 
the country for their lives. All Mexicans are not ban- 
dits; but there are a great many outlaws in the mount- 
ains who make robbery and plunder their profession. 
There are still a few Americans interested there in 
mining; but they are compelled to pay well for the 
privilege. 

One of the processes by which the Mexicans crush 
their rock, is to take a large rock and dress it off, first 
level and flat, then they crease the outer side by cutting 
and beveling. This rock is then placed on a solid and 
level foundation — and generally near some stream, so as 
to secure water power — after which another rock is 
made to exactly fit the one already in place, and so 



MEXICO. 93 

closely that with a motion of the upper rock the tailing 
is usually ground very fine, so that little will remain in 
a fifty-mesh sieve. Then, by following their tedious 
processes they obtain a small percentage of the royal 
metals which the rock contains. After this, the tailing 
is piled up in piles, and salted, one layer on top of 
another, where it is left to undergo a leaching process. 
While lying in this way it is occasionally stirred, and 
sometimes left for two or three years, when it is worked 
over again, and with more success than was at first 
obtained. But this is a very slow and tedious process, 
compared with the crushing and amalgamating of ores 
in California or Nevada. 

Nine-tenths of the Mexican population live in adobe 
houses, built out of adobes and covered with heavily 
tiled roofs. From a distance, the cities and towns of 
Mexico have a beautiful and picturesque appearance. 
The buildings are low — very seldom is a La Grande 
Casie over one story in height — the walls are thick, 
heavy, and cumbersome, with usually grated windows. 
But as one enters the towns all beauty vanishes. Build- 
ing after building is found to be all cracked, shaken 
up, neglected, and on the road to ruin, if not already in 
ruins. Even in the City of Mexico itself, one-seventh 
of the houses are uninhabited, and not fit to live in. 
Some of the stores, hotels, and houses of pubHc resort 
are very fine, large, and commodious; but private resi- 
dences are seldom more than one story high. 

Many of their gardens and camfos are deserted, and 
either going or gone to waste. They have been so long 



94 



HOW I KNOW. 



neglected that dense thickets of the orange and other 
trees occupy the ground. Sortie of their houses are 




MEXICAN BORDER TOWN. 

surrounded with flowers and shade trees as beautiful 
as grow in any clime. ' 

A stranger traveling in Mexico would naturally be 



MEXICO. 95 

deterred, by the very appearance of things, from asking 
for hospitality or a night's rest at most of these dwell- 
ings; but, among that small class of Mexicans who 
seem to take some little pride in keeping their premises 
neat and in good repair, I found solid hospitality and 
comfort. I found this class rather social and somewhat 
well informjsd. There is, in the end, but little enjoy- 
ment to be derived from a trip through Mexico, unless 
one is master of the language. There are very few 
Mexicans who can speak EngHsh, and those who can 
will seldom do so. 

They are all very fond of their wine, or liquor 
(Mescale)^ oftentimes indulging more freely than they 
should. They are fond of amusements, and the more 
barbarous and cruel the entertainment may be, the better 
it is liked by both young and old. Horse-racing, bull- 
fighting, dog-fighting, sheep-fighting, chicken-fighting, 
and other kinds of cruelty are much sought after. Such 
scenes are attended and witnessed by thousands, with 
glee and mirth. 

Thfe Mexicans are a nation of gamblers. They en- 
gage freely in all the different games of chance or skill. 
Generally they do not bet heavily; but they continue the 
game, oftentimes, until they have lost the last cent. 

They possess great powers of endurance. Even the 
inclemencies of the mountain rains and snows possess no 
terrors to the swarthy native. They are skilled in 
horse-back riding, often performing the most hazardous 
and reckless feats. In the saddle, with a lasso, they are 
perfectly at home, throwing the lariat with dexterity, 



96 HOW I KNOW. 

and with such accuracy that they seldom miss the 
.object of pursuit, whether out in the open country or 
confined in the corral. 

The common domestic animals run wild in Mexico 
and frequently become vicious. Great droves and herds 
of them are found in the foot hills, away from the 
villages and settlements. When any one or more of 
these animals is needed for use, the herd is surrounded 
and driven into some strong and convenient corral. 
The corral is a small piece of ground inclosed with a 
strong fence or barricade of small trees, usually cut in 
lengths to suit and placed on end in a ditch, somewhat 
after the manner of a stockade. After the animals are 
once confined inside of the corral, it is then a very 
easy task to throw the lariat over the heads of such 
as are needed. The rest of the animals are then 
allowed to return to their range, and they generally lose 
no time in going. 

I might say here that this is the method of handHng 
stock throughout the west beyond the Missouri River. 
Horses are known by various terms, such as mustangs, 
broncosj or ciyuse. Cattle in Mexico are known by 
the following terms: souaves, toros, vacas^ and so on. 
Lassoing those wild, vicious animals, where so many 
are corralled together, is attended with danger. None 
but a daring, resolute, self-reliant man dare enter a cor- 
ral full of wild Mexican stock for the purpose of making 
selections. After the lariat has been thrown and the 
animal is ensnared, an exciting scene takes place. The 
lassoed animal goes rearing, plunging, running, strug- 



MEXICO. 



97 



gling, and snorting through the herd at a tremendous 
rate, dragging the would-be captor after it for a time, 
it may be, at a comparatively easy gait, and then again 
lifting him, by a jerk, several feet through the air. By 
this time the animals all become frightened, and around 




MEXICAN BORDER INVASION. 



and around the corral they go until assistance enough 
has arrived to hold the animal, or else the poor beast 
gives up from exhaustion. 

If the animal be a horse, he is led out and a saddle 
securely fastened to his back. A bridle, that needs to 

7 



98 HOW I KNOW. 

be seen for it can not well be described, is also put 
upon him, when some buckarier advances with a spur 
on either foot, with a rowel as much as two inches 
across, and locks attached to the center pivot, making 
as much noise when he steps as a little boy with a 
parcel of bells. The horse is held, generally, until the 
rider is seated and ready. Then commences another 
ordeal, in which man and beast are generally both se- 
verely tried. The Mexican horse is small, but yet pos- 
sesses great strength. He is slender limbed, well-mus- 
cled, and very active. They very seldom weigh one 
thousand pounds, unless crossed with eastern horses. 
They can be ridden or driven further than any eastern 
horse could go in the same time with the same 
treatment. They usually get no grain, and even 
when in use are picketed to a stake, driven firmly into 
the ground, in some convenient spot, near camp, pro- 
ducing the greatest amount of grass. These horses 
have often been ridden one hundred miles, and, in some 
of the Mexican incursions during the border troubles, 
one hundred and thirty miles in a single day. 

Horses here and in southern California are very 
cheap ; whole herds can, in some instances, be bought 
for from eight to twelve dollars per head. An extra good 
riding horse of native stock can be had for from twenty 
to thirty dollars. 

Mexico is a beautiful country. The climate is de- 
lightful. The scenery is picturesque, and the forests 
are immense, extending along the sides and into the 
gorges and canons of the old Sierra Madre range, and 



MEXICO. 



99 



overlooking the beautiful valleys beneath. Some of the 
low lands in the valleys are covered for miles each way 
with lagoons. A lagoon is a very shallow lake, cover- 
ing, sometimes, thousands of acres of land. In the 
northern part of the RepubHc there are large deserts, 
or plains, where there is no vegetation, neither can 
wood or water be procured. 

Chihuahua is the State lying in the northern part 
of the the Republic just south of Arizona and New 
Mexico. This State is very thinly settled by Indians 
only, and they not civilized. The valleys are small, 
and, in some parts where there is water, very produc- 
tive. The country shows unmistakable signs of having 
once contained large cities and towns, the ruins of 
which are now leveled to the ground. The valleys are 
of a sandy soil, which washes very easily. In this 
shifting, sandy soil there are found covered, or partially 
covered, ruins of old chimneys and walls, and vases 
and pottery of many varieties, mementoes of a bygone 
race. I have there found some specimens of earthen- 
ware in almost a perfect state. But, generally, time 
has told upon it and it is found m scales, not entirely 
separated, but still hangmg together, showing that it 
has been ages in existence. 

Near the head of the Rio San Miguel, in Chihuahua 
State, there is what is called the Casas Grandes ruins, 
that, no doubt, have been standing for hundreds and 
hundreds of years, but which to-day can be examined 
as easily as if built but yesterday. Some of the build- 
ings are still partly standing, while others have nothing 



100 HOW I KNOW. 

left to mark the spot they once occupied, except a rough 
pile of earth and rock. At this place I have found 
earthen pots with the ornamental figures upon them as 
perfect apparently as when they were first made. 
The vessels, however, showed great age and rough 
usage. I, with others, have dug into several of these 
heaps of ruins to see if we could unearth anything. We 
found nothing different from what was to be found on 
the surface. We found abundant proof, however, that 
at some time, at a very early day, there had been a city 
there over a mile square in extent. There is evidence 
of some magnificent buildings. 

The inhabitants of these ancient cities must have 
been of a race far superior to those found there to-day. 
Many large, polished blocks of stone are found. Por- 
tions of whitened walls are still standing in perfect 
shape. Earthen-ware vessels, large enough to hold five 
gallons have been discovered. Hundreds of flint arrow 
heads are found. The parts of walls still standing have 
been built of stone. Where the walls have been pro- 
tected from the storms and sun, they show such neat- 
ness of finish and workmanship as shows the painstak- 
ing efforts of highly-skilled workmen. There are many 
places in Mexico, where ruins similar to these are dis- 
covered. Northward we find traces of ancient cities. 
In Arizona there are innumerable remains of villages, 
towns, and cities that have long since crumbled away. 

In the canons in the northern part of the Territory, 
and in places on the Rio de La Mancas, in Arizona, and 
on the Piorere, and in the country of the Rio Virgin 



MEXICO. 



101 



in Utah, ancient dwellings are found high up in the 
cliffs. On the Rio Virgin and Rio de La Mancas these 
dwellings are deserted, and have been for a long time. 
In Arizona the Moqui (pronounced Mo-kee) Indians 
inhabit some of the caves and rocky houses of the an- 
cient cliff-dwellers. I found in and around the ruins 
of Chihuahua pottery of the same material, character, 
manufacture and flowering as is found in these cliff vil- 
lages. It would seem, therefore, that these may have 
been one and the same race of people. Some have 
thought that 
the pre-his- 
toric races of 
Mexico and 
Arizona were 
two distinct 
races of civil- 
ized beings. 
My idea is 
that they be- 
longed to one and the same race. The fragments and 
ruins are all similar, with only this difference : at the 
ruins of the Casas Grandes I found remains of poHshed 
walls in a few places. These I saw nowhere else. 

The Moqui Indians live in villages or houses, some 
of them five, six, and seven stories high. These struc- 
tures are built from sand, rock and mud. The lower 
story has a strong wall, in some places eight feet in 
thickness. The roof of the first story forms the floor 
of the next, which is entered by a ladder from the out- 




ARIZONA SAND PLAINS. 



102 HOW I KNOW. 

side, and, when necessary, the ladder is pulled up in- 
side. The inside walls are whitewashed, and, though 
their houses on the inside look rather strange, yet they 
are neat and tidy. 

Arizona is a dry, barren country, with little water 
and less vegetation, unless it be the prickly pear, which 
covers the whole face of the earth. No soil but sand, 
which lies in one broad expanse of heat and sultriness. 
Consequently the Moqui Indians are not farmers and 
producers from the soil to the extent that some writers 
have represented. They have in places little gardens, 
perhaps two rods square. Their houses are away up 
in the cliffs, like sparrow nests. In some places they 
are as much as eight hundred feet above the level of 
the valley beneath, and they can only reach them by 
the aid of ropes made generally from raw-hide. These 
Indians are fed, clothed, and supported by the Govern- 
ment through its agents. 

It is supposed by many that they belong to the an- 
cient New Mexican race, called "town-builders" or "cHff- 
dwellers," who first lived in cities on the plateaus, and, 
as they became less numerous from war and disease, 
removed to the cliffs, so as to be the better prepared 
to resist and take advantages in attacks that were from 
time to time made upon them by other savage tribes. 

There is a legend to the effect that they are descend- 
ants of the Scotch. For myself, I am better prepared 
to believe the legend than to think they descend direct 
from the Indian, Spanish, or any of the northern tribes. 
The language spoken is different from that spoken by 



MEXICO. 103 



any of the other Indian tribes in the West. Many of 
their words have that peculiarity of accent so notice- 
able among the 3r^a<i-speaking Scotch people. 

The Moquis are highly sociable in their rude way, 
and show ready hospitality to the stranger. Among 
themselves they are most wantonly cruel. They are 
very superstitious in their belief, and worship a fire- 
god. If one is evil disposed, and steals, murders, 
or commits an offense which they consider of a 
very serious nature, he is burned in a furnace. They 
are very ignorant, yet they seem to have sensitive feel- 
ings. They wear woolen clothes, partly of their own 
make and partly such as the agents issue. They are 
lovers of the chase, and continually at war with other 
tribes. I traveled through that part of the country, 
helping to make a government survey. 

In the next chapter I will give a somewhat extended 
account of this little known part of our country. 



104 HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ARIZONA. 

WE found Arizona the worst country we ever saw: 
heat oppressive, sand ankle-deep, and no timber 
to be had to build fires for cooking, except in some 
places small quantities of "grease wood," which is a little 
thorny bush that, in Arizona, only grows about ten or 
twelve inches in height and not to exceed one inch in 
thickness. We had to carry our water with us, often 
carrying enough to last us, if used sparingly, for two 
days. 

I believe Arizona has some good gold and silver- 
bearing mines; but very little prospecting has been done 
there. Traveling through the Territory has a few de- 
lightful features, but many more of a disagreeable char- 
acter. On the whole, when the prospector once gets 
there, he is so harrassed by Indians, a lack of provis- 
ions, water, wood, and other things, that his next move 
is to retrace his steps, or to get away in some other 
direction as soon as possible. 

There have been some great excitements gotten up in 
order to induce people to go to Arizona. Great stories 
of rich mines of gold and silver have been published. 
It is said that a Mr. Janin even went so far as to buy 
up a large quantity of diamonds in London and in- 
duced people to go to Arizona by representing that he 



ARIZONA. 105 

had discovered vast diamond fields there, from which 
he had obtained the diamonds which he exhibited. He 
stated that rubies, emeralds, opals, garnets, sapphires, 
and diamonds were there in abundance and that, if he 
could get a good number of men to go there, millions of 
wealth were in store for them. He sent specimens to the 
Savage Mining Company to be tested, who pronounced 
them genuine. Others were sent to lapidaries in New 
York City for testing. The decision was, of course, 
every time satisfactory, since the gems submitted were 
all really genuine. This, naturally, soon caused a ter- 
rible excitement throughout the mining communities of 
the West. Hundreds went rushing into Arizona from 
all directions, only to find, when too late, that they had 
been disastrously hoaxed. A great many perished on 
the road out for want of suppHes. The remainder soon 
left, for there was nothing for such a vast crowd to 
subsist upon. 

Perhaps miners will some time learn to take 
these great excitements for what they are worth, and 
remain where they are. I never was carried away by 
one yet, without returning poorer than when I started. 
And so, in a large majority of casc^ it is with the rest 
of them. 

A man, to prospect properly anywhere, must lay in 
a full supply of blankets, provisions, a prospecting out- 
fit of tools, and utensils necessary for cooking. When 
he adds to these his gun and ammunition, he has much 
more of a load than he can carry. He is, then, com- 
pelled to procure a pack-horse or two, or not to go at 



106 HOW I KNOW. 

all. Mexican burros are plenty and cheap. 'Good 
ones can be bought for from fifteen to twenty-five dol- 
lars, while inferior ones can be had for the taking away. 
These bicrros are small, sorry-looking animals, with 
ears nearly as long as their legs, and heads as large as 
their bodies. The foot is like a mule's, only very small, 
not much larger than a trade dollar. When the burro 
walks, you must be near him to be sure that he moves. 

These animals will carry a load weighing from one 
hundred and forty to three hundred pounds. They 
carry these loads across the mountains, over trails and 
through places where it is impossible to use convey- 
ances of any other kind. There are saddles made on 
purpose for packing. These are formed of four short 
square sticks, two in front crossed, and two behind in 
the same way. Then there is a board the length of the 
saddle on either side, and on the inside of the sticks, to 
keep them from hurting the burro'^s back. This pack- 
saddle is fastened on a horse in the same way that any 
other saddle, by "sinching" or girthing. A rope is then 
attached to the front cross-stake of the saddle, brought 
over and allowed to remain across the saddle double. 

Now wx are ready to begin packing. One man 
generally works on either side. The first two bundles 
are as near the same size as we can make them. One 
of these is placed on each side of the saddle, and the 
rope on the saddle is taken and tied over both, to stay 
them until the load is made up. We now have plenty 
of room to pile on the remainder, consisting of our bed, 
flour, meat, sugar, coffee, beans, fish, cooking outfit — 



ARIZONA. 



107 



consisting of a bake oven, frying pan, and coffee pot — 
and our prospecting outfit, consisting of a sledge, pick, 
shovel, gold pan, etc. By the time our burro is packed 
he has a rather heavy w^eight on his back A canvas 
cover is then thrown over the whole load, and then 
everything is lashed on with a long rope, kept for the 
purpose, solid and tight. The animal might roll down 
a mountain for a half mile without losing a single 
item, A train of packed burros contains about twenty, 
and is usually run by two men, called packers. A 
prospector, however, seldom uses 
more than two burros^ and gen- 
enerally rides a mustang, or walks. 
Though the burros are good all-day 
animals, they do not travel far. 

Prospecting in Arizona is at- 
tended with so much danger from 
Indians that the country has been 
explored but little. One may 
travel there day after day without 
meeting any one except Indians 
and half-breeds, and these not always as friendly as 
they might be. 

Prospecting, besides being very laborious work, is 
very injurious to the health. The prospector goes cHmb- 
ing up the sides of mountains, winding around through 
canons, traveling over the macas, through sand, and 
over burning rocks, sometimes holding on to bushes, or 
clinging vines, and again catching hold of rocks, pull- 
ing up precipices — all for the pleasure of finding hidden 




A TRAIN OF BURROS. 



108 



HOW I KNOW. 



wealth. 



The unexplored mining ranges are in such 

rough, broken-up 
belts of the mount- 
ains that it is im- 
possible to travel 
through on horse- 
back where the 
prospector wants 
to go. Consequent- 
ly they get as close 
as they can with 
their horses and 
pack-animals, and 
then leave them 
picketed to stakes 
on the best grass, 
to remain there un- 
til the neighboring 
country has been 
prospected on foot. 
It has often hap- 
pened in the south- 
\vestern States, that 
the Indians have 



been watching ev- 
ery movement of 
the prospecting 
party, and, as soon 
as they leave camp, 
down they come and 




PERILS OP PROSPECTING. 



ARIZONA. 109 

take their horses and everything about camp, leaving the 
miners to hunt for meat and to foot it out of the coun- 
try; that is, providing they are spared to enjoy that 
privilege, which is not by any means always the case. 

Arizona has some mines worked, no doubt, centu- 
ries ago. There are tunnels that have been run and 
are now nearly full of loose and decomposing rocks and 
earth that have fallen in; at other places there is every 
indication of vast expenditures of labor having been 
made, in ditching and in scraping off the bed-rock 
where they have found it. There are shafts that have 
been sunk on the bars until they have been forced to 
abandon them. Hundreds of these old mines, showing 
evidences of having been worked long ago, can be 
found throughout the Territory. No one of the present 
day can know with what success these ancient miners 
prosecuted the work. 

As every one knows, Arizona Territory is inhabited 
chiefly by the lower classes of Mexicans and an Indian 
population. Every day in the week is marked by sim- 
ilar scenes and occupations. I dare say one-half of the 
people do not know when Sunday comes, and the other 
half do not care. In fact, if Sunday is observed at all 
it is by the special devotion of that day to the gambling 
table and horse-racing. 

Their villages are generally lined on each side by a 
row of gambling dens and miserable billiard and drink- 
ing hells. Passing the open doorway of one of these 
places, you can hear the voice of some one calling out 
something at regular intervals, and can see a deeply 



110 



HOW I KNOW. 



interested crowd standing or sitting in the interior. 
This proves it to be a gambling house. Now just step 
inside. The game may be keno. (They play many dif- 
ferent kinds of games.) If so, the caller stands at a small 
table facing the open doorway, and has in his hands a hol- 
low tin cyhnder containing dice. These dice bear figures 
representing different animals and vegetables, counter- 
parts of which are supposed to be on the cards in the 

hands of the players. A few 
lO 01^. vigorous shakes of the cylinder 
and the game and sing-song 
commences. So intent are the 
players in listening to the 
words falling from the caller's 
lips, and in watching the cards 
lying before them, that the 
entrance of a stranger into the 
room is unnoticed, and conse- 
'^^ — quently attracts no attention. 
A crowd of Spanish or 
Mexican men, women and 
children fills the room. All are intent on the one ob- 
ject. Here they spend the last cent they have. 

The few Americans and people of other nationalities 
who live in the Territory are as bad as the others. As 
far as I could see and judge, gambHng is the leading 
topic of conversation, and the foremost thought of the 
mind. Here you see men make themselves, many of 
them, so degraded that they leave all enjoyment of that 
which is right, reasonable, and just, and seemingly are 




CIVILIZATION IN ARIZONA 



ARIZONA. Ill 

contented only when around these places of resort. 
However, there is no other resort here unless it be to 
view Nature in solitude. 

Let us go out and proceed a little further up or 
down the street. Here we encounter Indians congre- 
gated before the very corner saloon where they have un- 
doubtedly obtained the liquor that has intoxicated them. 
With disheveled hair, foaming mouths, and disordered 
and dilapidated garments, they present a very disgust- 
ing and pitiable sight, while their discordant voices, 
joining in some Indian song, 
grate harshly upon the ear. 
Similar sounds come forth from 
the open doors and windows of 
the adjoining houses, indicating 
the presence of others in a like 
condition. In another portion of ^n Arizona scrimmage. 
the town, in front of some crumbling adobes, we see 
a number of game cocks picketed at regular intervals 
apart. By and by these will afford amusement to their 
owners and the spectators by being pitted one against 
the other. They also provide a means by which the 
insatiable desire to gamble, which seems to have taken 
such firm hold of the native western people, may be 
gratified. It seems to be almost a mania with the most 
of them to take sides by betting in all games or trials 
of chance. 

Perchance a hand to hand- fight closes the day's orgies. 
I look upon these facts, which portray in the average 
citizen of Arizona so much of worthlessness, ignorance. 




112 HOW I KNOW. 

and vanity, and speculate upon the probability of his 
reformation with a feeling that any rational person 
might experience if gazing upon a greased elephant 
which he had been commanded to swallow! There 
is no hope. CiviHzation can do nothing with a people 
so ignorant and self-degraded; so lawless and so vain. 



NAVAJOES, 113 



CHAPTER IX. 

NAVAJOES. 

IN 1874, twelve of us started on horseback from 
Fort Defiance, in the western part of New Mexico, 
near the eastern Hne of Arizona, to go to the junction 
of Green and Grand Rivers, in Utah, to a place known 
as the Old Mormon Fort, of which I will speak more 
fully after we have reached it. Our intention was to 
travel across the country of the Pueblos and Navajoes, 
since by that route it was some six hundred miles nearer 
than it would be to go around. 

We had an Indian trail nearly all the way. I car- 
ried a compass with me all the time, and had been 
with a surveying corps, establishing Government boun- 
daries, for three years. I had, also, a good knowledge 
of the mountains, and felt confident that I could pilot a 
company of men through the Territory without the 
least danger of getting lost, if not molested or interfered 
with by the Indians, who are as thick in that country 
as grasshoppers in Kansas. It being so much nearer 
across, no one belonging to the party would hear of 
any other route being taken, and all insisted that I 
should be the leader of the party. 

We expected to be able to make the trip across in 
twenty days. We procured riding and pack animals, 
and laid in a twenty days' supply of provisions. We 

8 



114 



HOW I KNOW. 



took no more than this, since we had no doubt but that 
we could procure provisions in Utah as cheap as in 
New Mexico, and cheaper than in Arizona. We did 
not want to be encumbered with so many pack ani- 




SCENE IN THE SIERRA DEL CARISO RANGE. 

mals and so much stuff. We had bedding and every 
thing necessary for camping out comfortably. We 
carried, also, good rifles, revolvers, and plenty of am- 
munition to use on our way, if occasion should require it. 



NA VAJOES. 115 

The first day we traveled through sand and some 
alkali. The next day traveling was a little better; we 
got on higher ground, and could move along without 
being wearied to death with the alkaH and sand. When 
w^e came to the Sierra del Cariso we traveled throug-h 
portions of the range of great natural beauty and 
grandeur. The mighty mountain crags lifted their jag- 
ged crests to dizzy heights toward the deep blue of the 
distant heaven. In many places their summits were 
lost to view in the midst of masses of fleecy clouds 
that cling around their snow-clad slopes, while midway 
up the sides of some of these mighty mountain peaks 
were stunted pines of a green and verdant hue peeping 
from out of the midst of the eternal snows around 
them. A little lower on the slopes is an occasional 
tract of pines or firs, often acres in extent, with the 
trees all dead— some standing, others leaning ready to 
topple over with the slightest push, and a great portion 
lying in confusion, just as they had been prostrated by 
the fires from Indian encampments, or the winds had 
thrown them. 

The valleys lying between the hills were here cov- 
ered with a peculiar grass, such as is seen no where 
else in the Territory, in a dead and dried-up state. The 
noisy rush of the swollen mountain streams (for there 
had been recent rains) as they went rushing down 
their meandering courses through the deep canons, the 
far away mountains veiled in the hazy enchantment of 
distance, the charming little mountain parks, breaking 
in upon the view here and there, threaded by pure 



lie HOW I KNOW. 

rivulets, sparkling with trout, and shut in by arrow-like 
quaking asps, balsams, and firs, altogether made a 
scene which awakened the liveliest emotions within us, 
which found vent in animated conversation and song. 
Yet, on the other hand, the grand sublimity that envel- 
oped the higher peaks as they stood in the majesty of 
primeval beauty, snow-crowned and half hidden in 
enfolding clouds, often hushed us to silence. 

It had been stormy weather, as we could see before 
we ascended the mountains, and, as we approached the 
summit, we knew there was yet more in wait for us, 
for, as night drew near, it grew darker and more dreary. 
We selected as our camping place a cluster of trees 
with a small strip of grass near by. This furnished 
feed for our mustangs, while the chaparrals afforded 
some protection and shelter from the wind; but not 
much from the rain. We made our horses fast to 
stakes driven into the ground. We protected our packs 
from the rain, that was by this time falHng in torrents 
out of the darkness above us, by piling all up in one 
large heap, and covering this up with canvas. We had 
no tents, and there were no houses nearer than those 
we had left some two hundred miles behind. No cook- 
ing could be done, for we could not build a fire. Ev- 
erything was wet, green, and soaked through. 

After several unsuccessful attempts had been made by 
different ones to light a fire, and all the paper and kindhng 
material that we carried had been consumed to no pur- 
pose, and a good share of our matches had been wasted, 
we concluded to do without fire. We made a very light 



NA VAJOES. 117 

supper of crackers and raw meats. We made prepara- 
tions to camp for the night by cutting some of the 
largest chaparrals, and placing two on end in the ground 
opposite each other, allowing the upper ends to stand 
up four or five feet high, with a ridge pole resting on 

them. The two posts were placed just far enough 

* 

apart to allow a double blanket to be stretched over 
the ridge pole, thus forming a tent and making splendid 
shelter for the night, where four persons could sleep 
very comfortably. 

The storm lasted all night, and until ten o'clock the 
next day. We then built a large fire, and dried our 
clothing and blankets, and, at the same time, prepared 
something to eat, for we had eaten but very little since 
the morning before, and we were all feeling hungry, 
and none the better for the poor rest of the night. 
After breakfast we cleaned and dried our guns and re- 
volvers; then saddled our animals, and packed up. 
Proceeding on in the afternoon, we found every gorge 
in the mountain full of water, that went roarinsf and 
pitching down its sides, washing before it everything 
that was loose enough to be moved. Whole trees 
could be seen floundering and bouncing and crashing 
along over precipices and around the rocks, turning 
sharp angles, swept on by the mighty torrent to the 
valleys below. 

We pushed forward without any road or trail to 
guide us, the rain having completely obliterated it. We 
encountered streams and bodies of water continually 
during the afternoon, a few of which we could leap 



118 



HOW I KNOW. 



over, but most of which we were compelled to ford. 
About four o'clock we struck a trail bearing in the 
direction we wanted to go. We followed it the re- 
mainder of the evening, until we came to a splendid 
spring of water, bubbling out of the rocks. There 
was grass near by, so we camped for the night. But 

we could find no 
wood. We gath- 
ered old moss and 
such stuff as wild 
animals gather to- 
gether for beds in 
the neighborhood of 
ledges of rocks. We 
managed to make 
fire enough to boil 
our coffee and fry 
our meat, which two 
articles soon disap^ 
peared. 

The next day we 
followed the mount- 
ain trail, which still 

FOLLOWING A MOUNTAIN TRAIL. led lu thc dlrCCtlon 

we were going. It was barely wide enough for a horse 
to travel on. It went winding around cHffs, often on the 
very brink of precipices hundreds of feet deep. Should a 
horse fall, he would be dashed to pieces on the rocks be- 
neath. Not reHshing the idea of such a death, the most of 
vis led our horses along the most difficult, narrow passes. 




NA VAJOES. 119 

That night we camped in a large forest. From 
every side all manner of strange noises could be heard. 
The screaming of panthers and wild cats, the screech- 
ing of birds, and the croaking of innumerable frogs, 
made up a concert that was novel and lively, if not 
agreeable. One who has never spent a night in a 
mountain forest can form no just conception of the 
strange and unearthly noises which make the hours of 
darkness hideous. Oftentimes, while one is asleep, some 
wild animal will come up and smell around your couch 
and, perhaps, give some terrifying howl that will cause 
you almost instinctively to clutch your gun and bound 
from your bed. Looking around you behold the glaring 
eyes of some wild beast fixed upon and watching you. 
It may be a panther, mountain lion, grizzly bear, Mex- 
ican jaguar, American tiger, wolf, or some other of the 
hundreds of wild beasts that inhabit those wildernesses. 
You may hear him snuff the air and'walk away, for the 
chances are it will be so dark that you can not shoot. 
These wild animals, however, seldom attack a man, 
unless goaded by hunger or wounds. 

The next morning when we got up all were com- 
plaining of a sleepless night, and some of sore limbs 
and aching heads. After everything was ready for the 
march, we descended to the valley below, thinking to 
travel up the valley, as we would have easier traveling 
and, at the same time, be out where we could see what 
was going on. This last object was quite desirable, for 
we were now in an Indian country. The pony and 
mocassin tracks of the Navajoes could be plainly seen 



120 HOW I KNOW. 

on all sides. We kept our rifles constantly in front of 
us, ready for instant use. The day was passed, how- 
erer, without seeing an Indian, though we were con- 
stantly on the alert, for we knew that the Indians were 
numerous all through this section of country. 

We halted before sundown, ate supper, and smoked 
awhile. Some of the boys were just saddling up to 
proceed onward, I was taking a little stroll from camp 
and smoking along at my leisure, when suddenly and, 
after all, unexpectedly, I beheld a traveler, clad in 
buckskin, hastily making his way toward us. He car- 
ried a Henry rifle in front of him, and a pair of huge 
pistols and a hunting knife in his belt. His belt was 
well filled with cartridges. He seemed to be peering 
around, and watching every moving object, and listen- 
ing keenly to every sound; but seemingly intent, nev- 
ertheless, on coming to us. After he came near enough, 
I could see that he was a young man, thirty-four or 
five years of age; and, upon forming his acquaintance, 
I found him to be a light-hearted and jovial fellow. 
He was, however, one of those sons of Kentucky, whose 
early education had been sadly neglected, for he could 
not read nor even write his name. He was gifted with 
a good share of caution, and was firm as a grizzly — two 
qualities which we much needed aflerwards as you will 
learn, for Bennett and I remained chums for the next 
eighteen months. He had carried the United States 
mail for over a year through Arizona, and was at this 
time off duty. 

After the usual salutations were passed and our vis- 



NA VAJOES. 121 

itor had sat down to a supper one of our boys had 
prepared for him, the general conversation in refer- 
ence to business and matters generally, — " What are 
you doing, and where are you going ?" came and 
went at random, as is usual on such occasions. But, 
to cut the story short, Bennett was persuaded into the 
notion of going with our party into Utah Territory 
He had been out at one of the agencies, and was then 
on his way to CaHfornia District, in Arizona. He had 
seen us as he was crossing one of the divides, and had 
come down to see who we were. He said the Indians 
were watching us as he supposed, or else we would 
have seen plenty of them before we got to the heart 
of their country, as he had seen numbers of them that 
day, but none in speaking distance. After supper we 
again made ready, and were soon on our way to find 
a place to camp for the night. During the evening I 
gave Bennett to understand what our business was — 
that we were a company of prospectors, going to the 
Elk Mountains, at the junction of Green and Grand 
Rivers, to hunt for some of the hidden wealth that 
was supposed to lie there in chunks as large as hogs- 
heads. Bennett went with us until we changed our 
minds and concluded not to go through. About nine 
o'clock we camped for the night, all lying down to 
sleep except the man on guard. We had no fire, as 
that would be seen a long distance, and would reveal 
our whereabouts. 

The next morning we had brought our horses close 
to camp, and were just ready to pack and saddle, when 



122 HOW I KNOW. 

one of the men on the lookout, sung out, "Injuns! In- 
juns!" Immediately the camp was in the midst of a 
terrible excitement, and though everything was lying 
near at hand, yet some of the men could not see their 
guns. There were two in the party who could find 
nothing they wanted, or that belonged to them. I 
gave these two and another one orders to attend to the 
horses. One of them grabbed an ax and went to 
driving the picket pins down tight, so as not to let our 
horses be stampeded and get away from us. Up to 
this time none of us except the sentinel had seen the 
Indians. I gave orders, that if we had to fight we 
should scatter out, so as to protect the horses, and at 
the same time, for each one to look out and secure 
safety for himself I then took my gun and ran up on 
a little eminence, a short distance from camp, so I 
could get a better view, and ascertain about how many 
there were of the Indians; and w^hether we seemed to 
be the object of their attention, or not. 

Having gained the eminence, I could see twenty- 
seven Indians, not more than one quarter of a mile 
away, coming down upon us with, their horses on a 
full run. They were painted up in the most warlike 
manner. I had scarcely gained the eminence before I 
was observed. They had been coming in single file; 
but now they commenced to quicken their speed still 
more, and to scatter over more ground, so as not to 
expose so many to the same range. As soon as I got 
sight of them I knew we would have to fight, or fare 
worse. I looked around for some place w^here I could 



NA VAJOES. 



123 



run for safety. I saw the boys going it in all directions, 
hunting for the best holes to creep into. I noticed a 




ATTACKED BY NAVAJO INDIANS. 



rock, as I supposed it to be, between where I was and 
the horses, a little to the right of the direction from 



124 HOW I KNOW. 

which the Indians were coming. I broke for that; but 
was terribly disappointed when I got to it, for it was 
nothing but a sand heap the ants had piled up. But I 
had no time to run further. The Indians had already 
gained the eminence, and were coming down on us as 
fast as their horses could carry them, and making a 
more fearful noise with their yells than ten times that 
many coyotes possible could make. I had run a con- 
siderable distance and their horses had gained on me 
until they were not over one hundred yards away. 

The boys had all scattered, so that none of them 
could be seen except the three who were holding the 
horses. The others had gone, as I said, every fellow 
for himself, and not a shot had been fired until I reached 
my ants' nest, when, as I threw myself behind it, a 
whole volley of bullets went singing over my head and 
into the sand above me. The Indians then made a 
break to capture or stampede the horses. Up to this 
time I had heard but two shots fired by our side. But 
as soon as they made for the horses then they were 
brought fairly into view, and a stream of leaden bullets 
was poured into their midst from all sides. Horses and 
riders went careening and falling together. They could 
stand it no longer than about ten minutes, when they 
started on a retreat. They almost ran over me, when 
retreating. One of them certainly would have done so 
had he not been killed on his way. 

They lost ten of their warriors and six horses. One 
of our men who was holding the horses was killed, 
and another shot through the ear. This, together with 



NA VAJOES. 125 

the general frightfulness of the situation was enough to 
make a man feel scared. The Indians seldom leave 
their dead upon the field. But we got six of these, 
and only four were carried off. The reason the dead 
bodies are carried off the field, is because the Indians 
generally tie themselves to the saddle by a strap that 
comes over the thighs and holds them on tight, ena- 
bling them to lean themselves from either side of a 
horse, and pick up an object from the ground, the horse 
being at the same time on a dead run. These ponies 
are accustomed to running together, and will keep 
together, rider or no rider, if let alone. So that if an 
Indian is killed his pony will take him to camp, there 
to meet a burial after the customs of their tribe. 

We buried our dead comrade by wrapping him up 
in his blankets and placing him in the sand about three 
feet deep. We threw the bodies of the Indians into a 
shallow ditch and pushed some sand over them. This 
might be considered a little rough; but such is the 
custom of the country. This is far better, moreover, 
than the Indians do themselves, as I will show soon. 
The Indians retreated in the direction from which they 
came, none of us following them. It was not our in- 
tention to molest them, or to interfere in any way with 
their interests, if only permitted to travel through their 
country in peace. 

We now packed up and moved on, as we wanted to 
get through as soon as we could, and not to give them 
a chance to murder our whole party. This, I remem- 
ber, was as lovely a day as I ever saw; but yet we 



126 HO IV I KuYOW, 

were depressed, and felt sad on account of our dead 
comrade. His name was Charles Willett; he was from 
Illinois — I do not know from what part of the State. 
He was twenty-seven or eight years of age, and a very 
fine young man; and was well liked by all of his com- 
rades in the West. About noon, or a little after, we 
came to some splendid water and grass. Here we 
halted and let the mustangs rest and eat, and provided 
dinner for ourselves. After resting awhile we moved 
on to the mouth of the canon where the mountain is 
traversed by the San Re Nado Pass. 

We had traveled perhaps two miles up the canon 
when the Indians again set upon us. They were be- 
hind rocks, on top of the bluffs, and, in fact, they were 
everywhere it was possible to hide. Not an Indian 
had we seen since morning — not even an Indian sign 
marked the way. The first warning was a volley of 
bullets coming from the bluffs, from every rock and 
hole to the right, to the left, behind, in front, and above 
us ; every place was filled with the noise and alarm of 
the Indian rifles, and they so well concealed that not 
one Avas to be seen. We sa^v at once that we w^ere 
lost; for in such a place there could be no salvation lor 
us if we went any further. Some of our comrades had 
fallen at the first volley, and more were falling now. 
We beat a retreat as fast as we could. When we got 
out of reach of their guns we found that we had lost 
seven men and all of our pack animals, food, blankets — 
everything except such things as we had in our pockets. 

There were only four of our original party left. 



NAVAJOES. 



127 



These, with Bennett, making five of us, were left 
to beat our retreat as best we could. We had been 
only seven days out, and eight of our comrades were 




AN INDIAN AMBUSCADE. 



already dead, and the rest of us in the greatest danger. 
There were Indians on all sides of us, whithersoever 
we might go. Only a few moments before we had felt 



128 HOW I KNOW. 

very jolly and confident of getting through without fur- 
ther fighting. Now there was no hope; the best we 
could do was to beat a retreat, back the way we came, 
as best we might without provisions. The Indians 
followed us all that evening. We traveled all night, 
and all the next day and night. We halted long 
enough, at places where there was water and grass, to 
let our horses rest and feed awhile, for everything 
depended upon them. 

We were of course getting hungry and tired our- 
selves; but the Indians were still in sight, pursuing us. 
Signals could be seen in all directions. We knew that 
they were following us up as fast as their jaded horses 
would permit. We could occasionally, from some of 
the high points we were passing over, see them in the 
distance coming toward us as fast as their ponies could 
be urged along. 

For two nights and better than a day we had not 
tasted a morsel to eat. We knew of a small stream of 
water a little farther ahead, which we had crossed over 
on our way out, where we had seen some fish. We 
had not seen any game that day, or the day before, to 
kill; and the fish were our only hope of relief from 
several days more of hunger and suffering. We struck 
out for the stream, and fortune favored our efforts for 
once, for we encountered no Indians on our road, nor 
at the creek. We went to work with a saddle-blanket 
for a net, and were not long in catching more than 
we could eat of the nicest kind of small trout, from 
three to six inches in length. We wasted no time in 



NAVAJOES. 129 

cleaning them and roasting them on sticks before the 
lire, without salt or anything else, unless it was smoke, 
for seasoning. We thought them excellent; as good 
as we had ever eaten. 

After resting a short time longer we moved on 
higher up the mountain. Here we found a small park. 
We picketed our horses and took the first rest we had 
been able to enjoy for some time. Our feet were all 
swollen, and we were tired and sore from riding so far 
and sitting so long in the saddle. Our horses looked 
wretched. They were worn out. Their feet were 
very sore and tender. Their Hmbs were all scratched, 
bruised, bleeding, and swollen, and they could scarcely 
walk. We took them to a Httle spring near by, and 
washed their backs and limbs all over with cold water, 
which we dipped from the stream in our hats. We 
then rubbed them dry, and tied them to stakes where 
they could be allowed to eat grass. They soon seemed 
much revived. We washed and bathed ourselves as 
best we could by taking turns, some keeping a lookout 
all the time lest the Indians might try to come on us 
unawares as before. 

After all were done bathing, and we were feehng 
considerably refreshed, we went to work, and soon 
gathered a small quantity of dry, quaking asp limbs, and 
built a small fire, being very careful not to make enough 
smoke to be seen at any distance. We roasted on 
sticks the remainder of the fish which we had brought 
with us. We then took turns in guarding the horses 
through the night, while the rest would sleep. We did 

9 



130 HOW I KNOW. 

not get much sleep, however, for the night was cold, 
and we had no covering, except the small blankets 
used under the saddles. These were damp with the 
sweat of the horses and full of hair. We did not dare 
to build a fire, as the light would reveal our place of 
camping a long distance away, and show the Indians 
our exact locality, and none of us were desiring another 
fight. We were thankful that we were aHve. 

We formed a sad little group as we huddled around 
close together, telling one another how near we came 
to being left with our comrades in the San Re Nado 
Pass. The Indians would, no doubt, have a big pow- 
wow and war-dance over the scalps of our brave fellows. 
Such things may be read of, perhaps, without causing 
much, if any, emotion of feeling ; but no pen can paint 
the picture; no tongue can tell of it; no idea can be con- 
veyed to a person who has never been where the dread- 
ful war-whoop sends terror to the strongest heart, and 
a shudder even to the very depths of the soul, of the 
feelings one has under such circumstances. 

Even now I imagine I can see again my comrades 
as they conversed together around the camp-fire, or 
sung their merry songs, while traveling over the deso- 
late wilds of the West. Again I see them in the fierce 
struggle for life or death with the red men, falling dead 
or mortally wounded, to be a sacrifice to the knife of 
the dusky warriors. They take no prisoners. No 
mercy is shown the white man that is unfortunate 
enough to fall into their hands in time of war. 

Our sleep on this night was none of the soundest, 



NA VAJOES. 131 

for, besides the cold, perhaps by the time we were 
commencing to doze, some wild animal would utter 
some fearful scream, striking new terror to our hearts. 
Such was the first night's rest we had taken for some 
time. At three o'clock we saddled our horses and 
started. It was well for us that we did so, for the In- 
dians were on our trail as soon as it was lig^ht enouofh 
to see to follow it. But two hours of travel had given 
us a good start, and, when we had crossed a small 
valley and were on the last slope leading to the Rio 
Puerco, we could see the Indians, by looking through 
Bennett's glass, on the slope between us and the slope 
where we had camped. 

We reached the Rio Puerco that evening, where we 
found a party of prospectors, who were returning to 
Prescott from an unprofitable expedition in search for 
rich mining ground. They gave us all we could eat and 
shared blankets with us, so that we got a more com- 
fortable night's rest than we had enjoyed for some time. 

Perhaps the reader would like to know the names of 
some of our comrades who were killed. I took down 
all their names and the places from which they came 
as far as I could remember of their having told me. 
As everything had fallen into the hands of the Indians 
in the San Re Nado Pass, I am unable to tell where 
they were all from. William Fleming, aged near forty, 
of Philadelphia ; Chris. Olten, of Indiana ; George Good- 
hall, of Indiana; D. P. Wheeler, of either Dayton or 
Springfield, Ohio ; George Brady, of St. Louis ; Wil- 
liam Carlton, and one more, who went by the name of 



132 HOW I KNOW. 

"Arkansaw," because he had formerly been a resident 
of Arkansas. His name I never knew. The four who 
escaped with me were : A. Bennett, of Kentucky, still 
alive ; George Bales, of Keokuk, Iowa, now living in 
Nevada ; J. T. Taylor, now somewhere in CaHfornia or 
Nevada, and John Middleton, now in Leadville, Colo- 
rado. From Prescott, Bennett and I went to Pioche, 
Nevada. 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 133 



CHAPTER X. 

THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 

IT was my fortune to spend three months in the 
mountains along the Colorado Canon. The Grand 
Canon extends from the mouth of the Little Colorado 
River down to the mouth of the Yampa. The Colo- 
rado River runs through canons from the mouth of the 
Dirty Devil, in Utah, to the Rio Virgin, in Nevada. I 
am unable to say how far this is in miles; but I know 
that from the mouth of the Dirty Devil to the mouth 
of the Rio Virgin is twenty days' hard riding by the 
shortest trail you can go. 

The main Colorado Canon, including all its curves, 
is over one hundred miles in length, and the river 
runs through canons for over four hundred miles. The 
Colorado is the mighty river of the West. The Green, 
Grand, Cottonwood, Convulsion, Little Colorado, San 
Juan, Uncompahgre, and a large number of other 
streams, all pour into it the water from the melting 
snows in the mountains, and form a mighty river. 

I joined a company of forty-one young fellows (Mr. 
Bennett was one of the company), who started out 
from Nevada — most of the company from Pioche. The 
principal object of our expedition was to prospect the 
Buckskin Mountains. Most all kinds of stories were 
afloat in reference to this locahty, among the rest, that 




THE GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 135 

this was where an expedition from California under 
Col. Baker had gone and found such vast leads of rich 
deposits of gold. But the Indians had killed all the 
party except two, Baker himself being among the 
missing. The two that did escape did so merely by 
accidental circumstances. 

One fine morning our company all met together at 
a point between the Dry Valley Mill and Bullion City, 
and started off to try the chances of newer fields in the 
Buckskin country. Some of us were mounted on good 
animals; others on hungry, lean looking mustangs and 
mules. With our traps and accoutrements, our pack 
and riding animals, we formed an ideal group of front- 
iersmen off for an expedition, or, a scout after Indians. 

I had heard much of the place we desired to reach 
and of the kind of country we would have to travel 
through; but I afterwards found that I had gained my 
information from men who knew nothing about the 
matter. There are always a great many ready to tell 
you all about the Buckskin Mountains and the Grand 
Canon of the Colorado. But nine out of ten of them 
never saw that portion of the countr}^ 

As for a road, there is none. The only way to go 
is to follow trails, sometimes of Indians, at other times 
of some wild animals ; and sometimes you must leave 
the trails entirely and go across the mountains, which 
are so abrupt, barren, and desolate, that you wish 
greatly for the land of civilization once more, long be- 
fore the day passes into night. After we arrived on 
the Muddy River, in Utah, we then changed our time of 



136 HOW I KNOW. 

traveling from day to night, as we thought that plan 
would be the safest. 

Sometimes we were in narrow valleys, at other times 
on top of mountain ranges, traveling across them or 
lengthwise as the case might be, always keeping to one 
course as nearly as we possibly could. In one place 
the top of the range was a vast sheet of lava. We 
traveled over it for two days without wood or water, 
for neither was to be found. After we had gone two 
days without water, and were almost perishing from 
thirst, Bennett, four others and myself started in search 
of water, taking all the canteens with us. We must 
have gone fifteen miles when we found a small supply 
in a hole in the rocks. There was no way of knowing 
how long it had been there. It was alive with little 
wigglers. We took a pocket-handkerchief and strained 
the water through it from one tin-cup into another, 
thus procuring enough to fill our canteens; but at the 
same time throwing a larger bulk from the handker- 
chief than we were putting into the canteens. I have 
tasted a great deal of bad water ; but that supply was 
the worst I ever met with. When we arrived back at 
camp again, we found there had been a mutiny, and 
that fifteen of our party had gone off in another direc- 
tion. They had taken, it was claimed, more than their 
share of the supplies, and some were growling and 
swearing about it. Others were in favor of following 
them up and reclaiming a portion of the supplies. 
Everything was suggested, but nothing was done. 

As for Bennett and myself, we had made up our 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 



137 



minds to go to the Colorado Canon at least, or to lose 

our scalps on the 

way. So I spoke 

to the men, telling 

^hem that none of 

d^ had ever been 

there; that we had 

talked the whole 

matter over before 

we left Pioche; and 

at that time we 

were all of one 

opinion. We were 

at the start well 

aware that we must 

stand together for 

the sake of our mu- 

tual protection, or 

else not go at all. I 

acknowledged that 

we were then in the 

worst country I 

had ever seen ; but 

I had not known 

that it was so bad 

before I started. But 

I supposed that we 

were now over the 

worst of the road, 

ana i tnougnt it the search for water. 




1S8 HO W I KNO W. 

likely that we would soon arrive where there was 
plenty of water and game. 

But some of them seemed very much down-hearted, 
depressed, and to be feeling very sore about something. 
I knew not Avhat. They were growling and complain- 
ing, and one of them came to me, and said, if I would 
give him rations to last him on his way back, he would 
leave us. Then I got mad and told the party, that if 
there were any who felt timorous or afraid, or did not 
want to go, they were at perfect liberty to take provis- 
ions, and leave us in peace. But, if they would leave 
a proper share of the provisions for Bennett and four 
more of us, we were going through, if such a thing 
were possible. Some said they would see us out; 
others could not make up their minds as to what they 
wanted to do for a long time; but finally all came 
around and were willins: to 2:0 on. 

^Everything went on all right until we had our ani- 
mals saddled ready to start, when another mutiny broke 
out, which lasted for over an hour. I then gathered 
together from the supplies what was my own, and took 
care to take my full share. Bennett did likewise. 
Some still said they would see us through. "No," I 
said, " I do not wish any man or set of men to see me 
out of danger that I voluntarily run into. You all 
know that I did not raise this company. Hess and 
others were the leaders in raising the company, and 
now, if they want to throw the responsibility on a few 
who only volunteered to go, I for one will not travel 
with them. But I will go through alone, if no one 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 139 

wishes voluntarily to go with me." Bennett and I had 
plainly seen that they were endeavoring to throw the 
whole of the responsibility upon our shoulders, when 
we really had nothing to do with organizing the expe- 
dition at all, having merely volunteered to accompany 
it as members. 

That evening eleven of us started on, leaving the 
balance to go where they pleased, so they did not 
travel with us. It was threatened before we left that 
we would be fired upon. But we had had our say, 
and at the time I fully expected that we would have 
a fuss, which would have been very bad for all of us. 
The other party outnumbered us, but were divided 
among themselves. But we were as determined as 
ever men were not to let them get the drop on us, and 
if a muss did break out, to put it through in the short- 
est possible way. 

We got started off, however, without any one being 
hurt, and a merry Httle crowd wx were. There was 
quite a difference between our little party of eleven, as 
we jogged along side by side, and the big, noisy, bois- 
terous crowd that started out together at first. The 
flying moments passed unheeded by as we rode along, 
engaged in mutual exchange of thought and feeling. 
And we were just flattering ourselves over having got- 
ten rid of the worst part of our crowd so easily, when 
five of those whom we had lefl behind overtook us. 
They reported that the others had gone back. But that 
they would go with us as long as a button remained to 
their coats. 



140 HOW I KNOW. 

That day we camped in a secluded spot at the foot 
of one of the peaks, where we found a Httle water for 
our horses, which did them a great deal of good, for 
they had been without water for three days. 

I was on guard that morning, in the first watch. I 
concluded to go to the top of the peak and make some 
general observations of the country. Armed with my 
rifle, revolver, knife, and Bennett's spy-glass, I started 
to make a circuit of the mountain for some distance, 
so as to find some place to climb up. I had not gone 
more than a couple of hundred yards, scarcely out of 
sight of camp, when I heard a noise, as of a stone 
rolling down the mountain. I stopped, and looking in 
the direction of the noise I saw a small stone, as large 
as my fist, rolling down the slope. Looking up in the 
direction from which the rock had come, to ascertain 
what had started it, I beheld, not more than twenty 
yards to my right, and a little above me, a monstrous 
grizzly bear, in the act of raising himself in a sitting 
posture. I suppose that he took this attitude in order 
to see, think, and determine whether it was best to 
hold his position or make a retreat. The old fellow 
did not look so wonderfully savage, for he wore more 
of a smiling look about his eyes than that of the most 
ferocious of wild beasts. He sat perfectly upright, 
and not a muscle or a Hmb did he move. His fore- 
arms were drawn up upon his breast, and I could see 
his paws, with their tremendous claws drooping in front. 
I could see but little to encourage me in my suddenly 
perilous situation, when I came to fully appreciate my 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 



Ul 



danger. He sat there in front of me looking entirely 
calm and collected, free from all show of excitement;, 




w.^w?.-^''-'^'^ 



CORNERED BY GRIZZLIES. 



and as firm as a rock. I well knew it would need 
only one blow of his paw to knock me into eternity; 
for the strength of the grizzly is greater than that of 



142 HOW I KNOW. 

any other animal of similar size in existence. He is 
king of the brute kingdom. The hunting of the grizzly 
bear averages more disasters than the hunting of any 
other animal. Hunting some of the smaller and more 
inoffensive animals is follow^ed w^ith enjoyment, and 
affords recreation and amusement to thousands, who 
are, in pursuing these animals, in no danger of being 
killed, crippled, or maimed for Hfe. But there are very 
few who desire to hunt for the grizzly bear, and though 
often seen by travelers and scouts when passing through 
the hills, canons, and forests of the Rocky Mountains, 
he is generally left to pursue his journey in peace. 

Oftentimes the scout runs up against one as I did 
this one, and has no chance to retreat, for a grizzly 
can out-run any man. On a mountain side they can 
out-run a horse. A horse might out-run a grizzly 
in the valley, or in rolling country; but there there is 
no grizzly. He is an inhabitant of rougher regions. 
In the rough country of California there are hundreds 
of them. They subsist principally on acorns, berries, 
and toolie roots, of which they are very fond. These 
toolies grow around lakes, ponds, marshes, and lagoons, 
sometimes higher than a man's head, with roots in the 
muck and soil similar in looks, except smaller and 
thicker, to the swamp dock of the eastern ponds. Here 
the grizzly bear and wild hog feed and keep them- 
selves fat. The bear stays in the mountains all day, 
and comes down to feed at night. After feeding awhile 
on roots the grizzly generally goes out to try to finish 
his feast with a young colt, or a calf, pigs, geese, or 



TIIROUan THE COLORADO CANONS. M3 

anything he can kill and carry away. I have never 
known them to molest grown cattle or horses. 

Often you will see them chained to posts as pets. 
These have generally been caught while young. I have 
seen a great many pet grizzlies; but I never saw but 
few that I could handle. They are most always cross 
to strangers. You cannot strike one, for he will sit 
upright, and either take your stick away from you or 
knock it out of your hand. When you make your pass 
at him he will not show the least fear, but rather the 
more determination to thwart your every move. If 
you shoot at and only wound him, then the grizzly is 
a most dangerous animal. At such a time the most 
perfect nerve is required. He will then charge on his 
nearest foe, mad with pain, and with more than ordi- 
nary strength. I have seen large, rough-barked trees 
where they had torn the bark away, clean into the wood, 
from a space ten inches square at one single stroke of 
the paw, and this, too, in their last dying struggles. 
Even after the animal is fatally wounded he often has 
strength enough to make an attack. Then all depends 
upon courage and coolness, and upon rapid and careful 
shooting. The great danger, the renown incident to the 
capture of so ferocious, and, when wounded, so blood- 
thirsty a beast, the nerve required, all combine to lend 
an extraordinary zest to hunting or attacking the grizzly 
bear. When a tender-foot first comes West he yearns 
to encounter a grizzly. And generally when he does 
get sight of one his courage fails him, and Mr. Bruin 
is allowed to depart in peace. 



A. 



144 HOW I KNOW. 

When, on this morning, I beheld this grizzly so near 
at hand, sitting upon his haunches and looking at me, 
I, in a moment, took in the dreadful and dangerous 
character of the predicament I was placed in. I was 
sure to be overtaken if I should run. My only safety, 
that I could see, was in my rifle. Then I wondered if 
I was cool enough to take a steady aim. I thought I 
was; but, at the same time, I knew if I failed there 
would not be time enough for me to load and shoot 
my rifle the second time, since he was above me and 
would immediately charge down upon me at such a 
rate that I would no doubt get very nervous, and even 
did I again shoot, it would be with a poor aim, and I 
would only enrage him the more, and no doubt be torn 
to pieces by his powerful claws, before assistance could 
arrive from camp. I looked at him but a moment, 
and in that moment a profound sense of my great 
danger came over me. But I hastily put my fears 
aside, and, dropping the glass lightly at my feet, I 
brought my rifle down and fired. I used an ounce 
explosive ball. My shot was well aimed, and struck 
him under the fore leg. As he sat a little quartering 
to me, the ball ranged towards his back-bone, com- 
pletely smashing it. When the gun cracked I was 
certain my ball had taken mortal eflfect. But to make 
assurance doubly sure, I gave him another shot. Then 
I heard the boys coming from camp, on double-quick, 
as I could tell by the way the stones and gravel were 
thundering down the mountain side. But, by the time 
they got to me, the fun was over, and Mr. Bruin was 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 145 

my meat. He was very large. We estimated that he 
would weigh nearly or quite eight hundred pounds. 

After the usual complimentary remarks of the occa- 
sion had been passed, we left our king of the forest, 
the boys to return to camp, and I to proceed to the 
summit of the peak. After I had gained the summit, 
which was through no little exertion, it being very diffi- 
cult and hard to climb, I could see a great distance 
on all sides of me. The bright sun was shining on 
the many different colored peaks. The calm solitude 
of the place caused strange feelings, indeed, in my 
mind. I sat on that peak for six long hours, viewing 
the many different and curious formations of nature. I 
noted the many different colors of t*he rocks, as the sun 
would reflect upon their surface. I could see wild an- 
imals of various kinds in the distance, such as coyotes, 
deer in herds, and others which I thought were ante- 
lopes. And once I saw a band of Indians; they were 
a long distance off; but I could make out that they 
were. not hunting, but traveling. Perhaps they were 
going to new hunting and fishing grounds. I could see 
in what direction they were going, and that was all- 
important to me. I could not tell how many there 
were; I could see a large party. 

I was not sorry when I was relieved from the guard, 
for the warm sunshine had made me sleepy. I did not 
speak to any one of having seen the Indians, for I 
considered that they would be none the better off for 
knowing it; and there was no need to alarm the lads 
any more than was necessary. 

lO 



146 HOW I KNOW. 

I lay down as soon as I arrived at camp, and was 
quickly lost in sleep — dreaming of the girl in a far-off, 
friendly land; or the one whom I had never trusted 
enough in my own native home. At such times the 
light of the world, for the dreamer, dies out, and only 
disappointments crown his efforts until at last he loses 
all hope. Alone in a strange place, without one of his 
kindred near to know his wants, or to learn even one 
of the many different conjectures that pass through the 
brain. But, hold on here! I find I am leaving my 
subject entirely. Should I keep on in this strain some 
kind-hearted people will think I am in love, or in as 
bad a condition as if I were. 

Well, when I awoke, the sunlight had become as 
dim as twilight, struggling in only here and there, 
through the branches of the small trees. When we 
had finished supper, which was then ready, and were 
sitting around in a circle, lounging against the trunks 
of the quaking asps, which grew in great numbers 
there, we then gave the subject of our journey a grave 
consideration. Each held between his lips a wooden 
pipe. The smoke that issued from them went rising 
above our heads, forming many-shaped curls to be lost 
sight of in the low boughs above. Our plans had been 
formed, and the swift darkness of night was falling 
around us; already the gulches, hollows, and ravines 
were shrouded in impenetrable gloom, and the black 
shadows were creeping up the mountain sides when 
we emerged from our place of repose, to saddle and 
pack, and jog along. 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 147 

I was riding in the lead, with no trail, no road, 
nothing: that we could see to follow. So we took a 
star to guide us and on we went, over gulches and 
gulHes, up mountains and down again, to then cHmb 
others, perhaps worse than those already passed over. 
We had traveled nearly all night in this way, when, 
about three o'clock in the morning, we came to a place, 
that baffled us for a long time. It was one of those 
places, which are to be found in many parts of the 
West, where the water has left standing perpendicular 
precipices of rock to fence in the little valleys along 
the river bottom. Dismounting, I was leading my 
horse along the edge of the precipice that I might find 
some place to get down to the valley below. I had 
gone in this way as much as a mile, trying to find a 
trail leading down, when I found one as I thought. So, 
calling one of the bo3'S to hold my horse, I started 
down the trail to see where it went, and to discover if 
it were possible for a horse to follow it down. I 
could see that the bluff was very steep, and if I fell I 
would fall a long way without any chance of preserva- 
tion. I wished for dayhght, for a balloon, or some fly- 
ing machine — anything to help me down to the valley 
below. I knew there was water there, for I could hear 
it. So, continuing on in the little bit of a trail, that 
one could scarcely walk in for the unevenness of its 
bottom, I had made good progress, and was, I thought, 
half way down, when suddenly, just a few feet in front 
of me, and a little below on the trail, a wild, terrible 
howl or scream rang out through the darkness. I 



148 HOW T KNOW. 

knew at once that I had a panther to contend with, 
and that is an animal to be terribly dreaded, for it is 
large, quick, muscular, and powerful. I brought my 
rifle to position as quickly as ever gun was brought to 
readiness, I imagine. Scarcely had I done this, when 
the animal gave vent to another howl, more terrible 
than the first. 

What should I do? I could not run had I washed 
to. I was then standing on a little, narrow trail of 
rocks, with a mighty chasm below me, and a precipice 
of rocks above me. I doubled myself down as close to 
the trail as I could, and at the same time drew my 
knife for further defense. When I got close down to 
the trail I could see the panther's eyes glistening like 
two coals of fire. I had hesitated for a little spell. I 
was afraid to shoot, for in the darkness a shot is un- 
certain; and, if the animal should spring upon me 
there, I would certainly fall off. I thought of jumping 
off; but I did not know the distance down. Then 
again I knew, if I did anything I must do it at once. 
So I threw my gun forward and pulled, aiming at his 
glaring eyes as near as I could. But my gun failed to 
go for the first time since I had owned it. I drew my 
pistol,- which was a Smith & Wesson forty-four. While 
I was doing that the beast again gave utterance to a 
howl that pierced me through, and made me feel that 
my fate was scaled. I thought that he was stealthily 
drawing nearer and nearer to me. His eyes were glis- 
tening with penetrating brightness. I could feel my- 
self shaking from head to foot. I was terribly fright- 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 149 

ened. I had been on many battle-fields, where men 
were falling all around me, and the groans of the 
wounded rent the air; I had heard them plead in vain 
for assistance that was beyond the power of man to 
give; but never before in my life did I feel as I then 
felt. I knew my last chance depended upon my pistol. 
I could see the long, Hthe form settling for the fatal 
leap. Then, holding my pistol out, resting the barrel 
and cylinder along my finger, I aimed at his eyes, and 
pulled the trigger. He bounded into the air, and fell 
downward into the darkness below. I heard him when 
he struck; it sounded a long way down. 

I could hear one of my companions calling to me 
from above to know if I was hurt. Answering him 
that I was not, I went on down the trail, and found it 
about the same thing all the way. So I hallooed for 
my companions to come down carefully. When they 
had all got down, we pitched camp for the day. We 
had not long to wait for the morning, as day was fast 
coming out of the sombre darkness. After daylight 
we found that we were in a beautiful little park. 

I was interested to know whether I had killed my 
animal or not. I did not know whether I had hit him, 
or only frightened him, and made him jump. Three 
of us w^ent to see if we could find any trace of him. 
We had not long to look, for we saw him lying on the 
slide rock, where he had stopped rolling a good bit be- 
fore we reached the place. He was a nice, sleek, large- 
looking animal, over seven feet long from the point of 
the nose to the end of the tail. He had fallen over 



150 



HOW I KNOW. 



sixty feet from where he was when I shot him. I of- 
ten think 
and won- 
der what 
would my 
fate have 
been had 
he made 
the spring 
upon me. 
I f o u n d 
that the 
reason my 
gun would 
not go off 
was be- 
cause I 
had got a 
very small 
twig fa s t 
in front of 
the ham- 
m e r , so 
the needle 
could not 
strike the 
cap. 

While at 
this place 




IN THE COLORADO CANONS. 



the boys 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 151 

caught plenty of nice trout. Some of them would 
weigh a pound or more. We were all delighted with 
the place. After a time I lay down to sleep, but only 
fell into a disturbed slumber, which was worse than 
wakefulness, for it was haunted by such terrible dreams. 
I was dreaming of wild animals howling, and roaming 
about all night, or else of the savage Indians, and that 
one of these was in the act of lifting what little hair 
there was left from the top of my head. I finally 
awoke, screaming for the boys to run for their lives, as 
the Indians had me and would soon have the balance 
of the party. To sleep again was impossible. I was 
soon up, therefore, to take a view of the country. 

The air had been fresh and nice before sunrise; but 
now the sun was sending its scorching rays upon and 
all around us in that little valley. The sky was in- 
tensely blue, and without the smallest cloud to break 
its monotony. I spent the afternoon in visiting some 
of the different peaks, and examining the general char- 
acter and formation of the ledges that crossed the 
gulches, and projected from the sides and summits of 
the main ranges. When the afternoon had been spent 
in sight-seeing, and in visiting the many little caves, 
and examining the numerous particles of quartz that we 
discovered, we then took our gold pans, and tried the 
creek. We raised the color; but we could do that any 
place in the mountains. Take a pan of dirt from the 
top of a range, and wash it out, and you see a little 
shiner. The mountains, however, afforded us much 
study here, for they were filled with various classes of 



152 HOW J KNOW. 

rock, such as the prospector delights to find, and exhibit 
in his collections. 

We again start on our way. The sun has set in a 
tremulous golden glory, and the twilight has already 
deepened into night. The red and white sands, the 
silent castles that were by daylight seen rearing their 
jagged crests far above the surrounding country, have 
now all disappeared in darkness. We traveled all night 
without any special adventure. , 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS, 153 



K 



CHAPTER XL 

THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 
[continued.] 

THE morning found us on the verge of a mighty 
precipice. Before us opened a mighty chasm 
in the earth, in some places over a mile in depth, and 
appearing as if it v^ere closing together at the top. 
You think you can throw a stone across to the other 
side very easily. But in this you are mistaken. Try 
it. Ah! see, the stone drops downward out in space 
far short of the other side. As you watch it on its 
steady journey downward, a sensation creeps through 
you that you too are faUing from these giddy heights 
above to the mighty depths below; thence to be borne 
away by the mighty river that goes rushing onward 
beneath you; boihng, splashing, and frothing, white 
with madness. Here you see it pouring over a per- 
pendicular precipice over fifty feet in height, and over 
hundreds of others not so high. See it strike and 
divide against that large bowlder. Thousands of rocks 
can be seen, projecting their dark-colored heads, as 
you look up and down the river, above the white, 
splashing spray. 

" Now," says some reader, "where are you, and what 
are you describing?" I am sitting upon the mighty 



154 HOW I KNOW. 

precipice, overlooking the grand Colorado River, upon 
the brink of one of the longest and deepest cuts in solid 
rocks that Nature has ever made. Moreover, I am 
now seeing what few white men ever have seen. There 
are a great many men who claim to have seen the 
Grand Canon of the Colorado, when really but few have 
ever seen it. 

The river runs through a rough, broken, alkaline 
range. The first morning we arrived at this canon, 
there being neither wood nor water, we moved back a 
short distance, where there was some alkaline water, 
standing in holes in the rocks. We had no wood, and 
grass was scarce. Neither our horses nor ourselves 
fared the best. Some of us followed the edge of the 
canon down the river, while others went up stream 
(leaving some to take care of the camp), to see what 
the chances were for crossing. The Buckskin Mount- 
ains proper are on the eastern side of the Colorado 
River, though I have seen them represented on some 
maps as located on the western side. The Indians call 
the four peaks that stand up so prominent, and which 
are seen for a long distance, lying on the eastern side 
of the Colorado, between Colorough Lake and the 
Grand Caiion, and forty miles north of the Yampa, the 
Buckskin Mountains. 

We wanted to get across the river, and were una- 
ble to cross there. At that time none of the party 
knew at what part of the canon we were. We tossed 
up a four penny bit to determine whether we should 
go up the river or down. Mr. S. Jones tossed up the 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 155 

piece, which came down heads up, deciding that we 
should travel up stream until we could find a crossing. 
We thought that a rough journey was before us, which- 
ever way we might go. We struck up the trail that 
had been marked out by the ponies of the savages in 
their wanderings up and down the canon. We felt 
sure the trail would lead us aright through the, to us, 
unknow^n regions. 

We were very fortunate, for we met with no Indians 
on our way up the canon. All the difficulty we had to 
contend with was the lack of water and the roughness 
of the mountains. It was so rough that we now changed 
our time of traveling from night back to day again. 
At times we were close to the brink of the precipice; 
at other times we were entirely out of sound of the 
river, in some deep gorge or ravine, or behind some 
mountain. At times we were traveHng directly from 
the river, and then climbing and sweating and working 
our way back again. Sometimes when we looked 
down into the canon, it was impossible to see down 
to the water. The vapor or mist that was rising from 
the water looked like a cloud or thick smoke ascending. 
Again, when we could see down, ^ve could see in the 
walls on either side caves, rooms, and openings that the 
water had formed in its downward cutting. In some 
places the canon walls are much farther apart at the 
bottom than at the top. While at other places the top 
of the canon will be more than a mile in width; but 
the walls are so steep and rough that nothing can get 
to the water below Avithoiit falling down, down for 



156 



HOW I KNOW. 



hundreds of feet. For fifty miles we got down to the 
water's edge but once, and that was by following down 




SUNSET IN THE COLORADO CANONS. 



a dry gulch that started from the mountains a long way 
back from the river. While traveling down this gulch 
one has a feeling not easily described. You are going 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 157 

down all the time, either jumping down from perpen- 
dicular declivities in the rock, or groping your way 
over and down from large bowlders. This gulch is 
very narrow, not more than seven feet wide at the 
bottom. It is hemmed in with perpendicular walls in 
places. At others the walls project over until they meet 
or lap at the top. As you approach the river the higher 
these hard rocky walls get to be. You look up from 
your low position, down deep between these mighty 
walls, and in many places see them closed above your 
head. Again there are places where you are able to 
see the top. That is where the top of the canon has 
some Httle width. 

It was a bright, sunny day when we went down. 
Ever and anon I would try to see the top. I well 
remember how I felt, but can find no words to express 
what I would like to say. Imagine yourself for a mo- 
ment way down, down, down for thousands of feet in a 
deep, narrow gulch, walled in with rock, which time 
and water have worn smooth as glass. Then you will 
have the idea, if not the realizing effect. As you 
move on down towards the river, the roaring of the 
water gets louder and still louder as it goes beating, 
knocking, splashing, bounding, and rebounding on its 
course, for here the canon is very deep and narrow; 
and consequently the mighty force of the river must 
exhaust itself upon the confining walls. The noise in 
this narrow confinement became so great that I did 
not hear the loudest hallooing that was, as I was after- 
wards told, shouted in my very ear. 



158 HOW I KNOW. 

The Colorado River does not appear to be very w^ide 
here. But take into consideration where you are; see 
the mighty, dark-colored walls all around you, and far 
above, covered here and there with moss; see the 
mighty river rushing past you with steep descent, and 
solid rock for bottom. I cannot say that it was beauti- 
ful to me; but it was marvelous. 

We continued on our journey up the river until we 
arrived above where it enters the canon, when we came 
to a small tract of bottom land lying nearly as low as 
the river. This valley is a little more than one mile 
in length and is half as wide. Then the river is again 
confined in a narrow caiion. 

In this valley we found the ruins of buildings, with 
portions of the walls yet standing. In several places 
the walls are yet eight feet in height. As I mentioned, 
when speaking of the ruins in Arizona, and the Casa 
Grandas, in Chihuahua, Mexico, pieces of plate and 
other articles of earthenware are found here also, scat- 
tered among the ruins. A large spring flows out high up 
in the rocks. The water comes tearing down through 
the little channel it has cut and then goes rippling 
through what has at one time been an inhabited town. 

This little secluded place affords an abundance of 
grass, which was thickly set and as high as our ponies' 
knees. The country all around is made up of high, 
mountainous lands, with little or no vegetation. In this 
little valley the river widens out. At the upper end the 
water runs in a smooth sheet, denoting depth. At the 
lower end, or near it, the fall is greater, and the water 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 159 

goes at a much more rapid rate. This we found was 
our only chance to cross the river. By entering the 
water well up towards the upper end of the valley, 
our horses could swim over very easily, without drift- 
ing into the rapids below. If once swept into these 
rapids there is no chance for man or rider to be saved. 
We met with splendid success in crossing, and lost 
nothing of any value. We got wet, of course, but soon 
dried ourselves. 

On the eastern side of the river the country is still 
broken with ravines, gulches, and canons. The mount- 
ains are fully as high as on the western side; but hardly 
as barren and sterile as the range we had come up. 
There are some small streams and one good large 
creek between where we crossed and the mouth of 
the Little Colorado. At the last mentioned place we 
camped for two days and prospected for gold. The 
place looked more favorable for deposits than any we 
had seen since leaving Nevada. 

We found some very fine specimens of float quartz, 
and also some veins of quartz, but generally barren; 
that is, quartz that carries no metals of value. While 
here we were blessed with plenty of venison and fish. 
With a single hook one man caught, in an hour, more 
fish than, together with some venison, we ate during 
our stay. The next day we crossed and camped on 
the Little Colorado, which is at this place a beautiful 
stream; but having a valley of no width. 

Here a party of Apache hunters came and camped 
with us for the night. They were very talkative; more so 



160 



HOW I KNOW. 



than common. Of inquisitiveness they undoubtedly had 

more than their 
share. They soon 
warmed up toward 
us and then wanted 
to swap guns, as 
we had arms supe- 
rior to theirs. We 
might have done 
well in the way of 
a trade, to have 
swapped our rifles 
for their guns and 
horses; but we did 
not care to do this. 
We divided our 
"baca" with them, 
and the next morn- 
ing they moved up 
the Little Colorado; 
but not before they 
had warned us of 
" heap bad Injun at 
Buckskin Mount- 
ains. Ma-be-so 
see 'em to-day heap 
bad Injun. We 
heap good Injun. 
We no care for 

PROSPECTING IN THE COLORADO CANONS. WhltC man C a t C H 




THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 161 

'em fish — not too many — eat 'em. Kill 'em deer — eat 
'em. Heap white men shoot 'em Buckskin, poom- 
poom — no eat 'em. Kots bueno (no good ). Ma-be-so 
(holding up one finger) sleep see you. Ma-be-so (hold- 
ing up the fist with fingers closed) see you Buckskin 
Mountain. You sigueaf^ "Yes," 1 say. "Me heap 
good Injun. Buckskin Mountain no good Injun." After 
warning us in this way^ and passing the friendly salu- 
tation, they went their way, leaving us on our way to 
the Buckskin Mountains. 

This country we prospected as well as we could 
under the circumstances. We found several gold and 
silver-bearing quartz leads. How valuable they may 
hereafter prove to be, I do not know. We found some 
gravel claims that I always will think, if properly 
worked and under the right kind of management, will 
pay. I have taken as many as twenty pans of dirt and 
washed it out and I never got less than three cents to 
the pan. In one pan I got one nugget that weighed 
seven dollars and sixty-four cents, at the First National 
Bank of Utah. I sold it for that to Mr. Warren Hus- 
sey, president of the bank. He said it was of a good 
quality of gold. 

I have often been asked why I did not stay there. 
I will here say that we were not prepared to stay long 
at this time. We had nothing to work with; no saws of 
any kind, and we could not saw lumber without a whip 
saw. Neither did we have provisions enough to last 
us long. Our company had only sixteen men left. The 
others, you remember, had taken a skip and left us. - 

II 



162 HOW I KNOW. 

I tried to get there once afterwards, of which I will 
speak further on. We reached the Buckskin Mount- 
ains without any resistance from the Indians. A few 
of them were friendly, and a great many otherwise. 
As we kept a guard out night and day, they offered no 
violence more than some abusive epithets which were 
not resented on our part. We prospected the ranges 
all through that section of country. We found gold, 
silver, iron, lead, copper, bismuth, and cinnabar in vari- 
ous places. But whether in paying quantities or not, I 
do not pretend to say. We also found bench and bar 
claims; but nothing to justify any very heavy outlay or 
expense. 

We then pushed on to Callville, below the Yampa, 
the highest point of navigation on the Colorado River. 
From here some of the party went to Pioche. Four 
of us went to Salt Lake City. We traveled over an 
abundance of alkaline and grease-wood land, where 
nothing else was to be seen; not even a jack-rabbit, 
an animal of which I have already spoken. 

We called at a Mormon house occasionally, and 
bought milk or butter, which they were very ready to 
sell for cash, and at a much more reasonable figure 
than we could buy at in any of the other Territories. 
I may mention, in passing, that at Callville we were 
ferried over the river by John D. Lee, who has since 
been shot on the scene of the Mountain Meadow Mas- 
sacre of the Kansas emigrants, which he superintended 
in person. It is said that he took an active part, per- 
sonally, in the slaying of the unfortunate children that 



THROUGH THE COLORADO CANONS. 



163 



belonged to the train. I am told that, in one instance, 
two sisters, small children, were begging for mercy that 
they might be spared; and some of the blood-atoning 
followers of Lee and other Mormon saints were about 
to spare them; but Lee dashed in, revolver in hand, 
and shot them both, with the remark, "They are too 
old to live." I have been told often by men, some of 




EXECUTION OF JOHN D. LEE. 



whom now live in the Territory, and do know whereof 
they speak, that until only a few years before Brigham 
Young's death, he rode ig the carriage that was captured 
by his murdering this train of emigrants. He was not 
there in person, of course; neither does a President 
need go in person to quell a rebellion; but yet they can 



164 HOW I KNOW. 

act as instigators or accessories to the act of having it 
done. Other things, such as clothing, wagons, guns, 
etc., went to the highest bidders in Cedar, Parowan, 
Beaver, and other settlements. Such live-stock as the 
Church could handle was considered as Church prop- 
erty, and found its way, a lot of it, to the Church 
Island, where no one ever went except those intrusted 
with the care of that kind of property. Church Island 
is an island in the Great Salt Lake, where a good por- 
tion of the stock of the Co-operative Company is kept. 



MONTANA AND IDAHO. 1-65 



CHAPTER XII. 

MONTANA AND IDAHO. 

MONTANA and Idaho, like California, were settled 
originally by gold-hunters. At first they neither 
knew nor cared whether the Territory possessed any 
agricultural advantages or not; but when the easily 
skimmed cream of the placers had been gathered, and 
more difficult and permanent quartz mining succeeded, 
the pressing needs of a settled population turned the 
attention of a large number of the people to farming. 
The country was then found to be as rich in agricul- 
tural as in mineral resources. 

Montana is celebrated for its many large productive 
valleys. The Gallatin Valley is situated in the south- 
ern part of the Territory, and is one of the largest and 
finest grain-producing valleys in the West. Some very 
nice little orchards have been set out. Whether these 
will prove productive or not, I am unable to say. In 
Jefferson, Madison, Bowlder, Prickly Pear, Bitter Root, 
Marias, Milk River, and a number of other valleys they 
raise magnificent crops of wheat. Although Idaho is 
south of Montana, the valleys are as cold as those of 
Montana. They produce no better grain, neither any 
greater variety. 

Estimating from what I could learn, about one-half 
of the population of these two Territories is engaged 



166 HOW I KNOW. 

in agricultural pursuits. The other half, in mining, 
stock raising, and other branches of industry. The 
roads are generally lined with freight and immigrant 
wagons. The larger part of the best land has been 
taken up. There are a great many quartz mills. Some 
are idle; but many are doing a thriving business. 

Before the Pacific Railroad was built, all goods for 
Montana were sent up the Missouri River — in the 
Spring — to Fort Benton, which is at the head of navi- 
gation. The distance up is thirty-one hundred miles, 
along a most tortuous course, requiring very careful 
piloting. Steamers would consume from three to four 
months in making the trip. Their progress depended 
greatly upon the nature of the current, and the depth 
of water on the almost innumerable shoals. This diffi- 
cult and exasperating method of transportation had 
nothing to recommend it except that it was the best 
then within reach. Very little freight is now sent by 
the river. The great bulk of it goes over the Union 
and Central Pacific Railroads. 

At present all goods for Montana, whether from the 
East or West, go to Corinne, Utah, on the Central Pa- 
cific Railroad. It is thirty-one miles west of Ogden. 
Ogden is the junction of the Union and Central Pacific 
Railroads. Corinne is four hundred and seventy miles 
south of Helena, the chief town of Montana. The two 
places are connected by a wagon road, over which 
there is a line of fast stages, fast and slow freight 
wagons, and innumerable mule teams. Since the great 
Washoe teaming business has been discontinued, there 



MONTANA AND IDAHO. 167 

.is no Other Territory that gives employment to as many 
freight teams as Montana. 

The largest freight warehouses in the West have been 
built at Corinne for the storage of merchandise for Mon- 
tana. They are always well-filled with goods. Dozens 
of teams are constantly to be seen at the depot, either 
loading up with freight, or waiting their turn to be 
loaded. The freighters generally drive mules and 
horses. During a brief portion of the year, in the 
summer months, cattle may be used with advantage. 

From Corinne to Helena is a hazardous road. A 
good portion of the year there is snow on many parts 
of it. When the snow melts, streams of water con- 
tinually run across or along the road, making it very 
difficult for heavily-loaded teams to move along. They 
are either mired down in the mud, or fording ponds 
and streams of water one-half the time. The other 
half is spent in winding around and up over ridges and 
mountains, turning sharp curves, climbing steep mount- 
ain grades, and skirting along the edge of lofty preci- 
pices. Sometimes wagons, horses, goods, and every 
thing go rolling over the precipice, and pitching down 
the steep mountain side, to land at the bottom a total 
wreck. Goods are scattered the whole distance down; 
the wagon is smashed to fragments, and the animals 
killed or hopelessly crippled. Hundreds of skeletons 
of animals line the road on either side the whole dis- 
tance. 

In the summer there is plenty of grass along the 
route, so that animals have good grazing. But during 



168 HOW I KNOW. 

the greater part of the year they must be full fed with 
grain, such as chop feed, rye, oats, barley, peas, and 
corn. If none of the above can be had, then wheat is 
used, which is an excellent feed for horses or mules. 
Hay commands a good price at all times, sometimes as 
much as eight cents a pound. Before the Pacific Rail- 
road was built, at times everything sold at enormous 
prices in some of the mining camps where provisions 
were scarce. Eggs have sold for fifty cents a piece. 
Flour seventy-five cents a pound, and at one time one 
dollar and fifty cents a pound. Tea, coffee, and a great 
many other such things were not to be had at all. 
Tobacco retailed for two and four bits a chew, a bit 
being twelve and one-half cents. 

Californians, are called in Montana " Self-risers," to 
distinguish them from the " Pilgrims " or " Tender- 
foots," who footed it into Montana from the south-west- 
ern States. The " Self-risers " largely monopolize the 
mercantile and mining interests, while the " Pilgrims " 
generally guide the plow and handle the hoe. A great 
many people who have gone to Montana have done 
extremely well. 



LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 169 



CHAPTER XIII. 

LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 

THIS chapter I will devote exclusively to the wa- 
ters of the West. There are in the West many 
kinds of water, with different qualities and properties. 
There are waters of many colors. Water, we all 
know, is found in Nature in three forms, vaporous, 
fluid, and solid. Science teaches us that water is a 
compound of one part of hydrogen, and eight parts of 
oxygen. Water is never pure, but always impregnated. 
Take the waters of the wells, springs, rivers, etc., east 
of the Missouri — they are mostly fresh. Take them in 
the mountains west — they are saline (salty), alkaHne 
(some mineral being held in solution), and often caloric 
(that is warm or hot). 

The Great Salt Lake is situated in Utah Territory 
in the great basin. The water of this lake is saline, 
with one part out of four salt. There is no living thing 
in this lake. Bear River, coming down out of Idaho, 
empties in on the north. This is, commonl}^ speaking, 
fresh water, where splendid fish are caught in large 
quantities. There is no outlet to Salt Lake that I 
know anything about, and I have been told there is 
none. It has been stated that there is an undererround 
outlet, and that the water at a certain place out in the 
lake is continually in a w^hirl, caused by the suction 



170 



HOW I KNOW. 



from below. This, I think, is a mistake. I was 
often on the lake in 1868 and 1869. I have talked 




GREAT SALT LAKE. 



with different individuals well acquainted with the lake, 
all of whom deny the assertion. 



LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 171 

The water of Great Salt Lake is rising all the time. 
When the Mormons first settled there, all the available 
fertile land around the lake was fenced to the water's 
edge with post fences. Owing to the presence of large 
quantities of salt in the soil, the posts have been pre- 
served from rotting. And now the fences are still 
standing, but are under water, in many places entirely 
out of sisfht. Whole fields that once were cultivated 
are now under water. 

People often go into Salt Lake bathing. If they 
have sores, cuts, or broken flesh, their sufferings are 
severe. When they come out there is a saline coating 
all over the body, so that they have to bathe in other 
water to wash the salt off. The lake spreads over a 
vast scope of land, and is in some places deep. 

Lake Tahoe, or Lake Bigler as some call it, is in 
Nevada. The former is an Indian name; the latter is 
the name of the first white man of any note in that part 
of the now State. This lake is called fresh water. 
There are hot springs boiling up out in the lake. At 
Hot Spring City they began at the bottom of the lake, 
and built a wall around one of these springs, and con- 
tinued the wall until above the surface of the lake. 
This wall is solid, and keeps the water separated. The 
lake water is cold around the outer side of the wall, 
while the water on the inner side is hot. 

Fresh water is much lighter than salt water. The 
water of Lake Tahoe is undoubtedly the hardest to 
swim in I ever tried. It is almost impossible to swim in 
it even for a short distance. It would be a great place for 



172 HO\r r KNOW. 

Captain Paul Boyton to experiment in. Another feature 
of the Tahoe water is, that if a person is unfortunate 
enough to be drowned in it, as has been the case of 
several persons, his body is never recovered. Bodies 
have never been known to rise to the surface, nor 
have they been found drifted to shore. This water is 
very transparent, and is said to be the clearest water 
in the world. You can see down in it to the great 
depth of over one hundred feet. It is so transparent 
that it does not appear to be over ten or fifteen feet 
deep. Near the shore, while rowing in a boat, you feel 
sure you could wade it, when at the same time there 
will be twenty feet of water beneath you. Large 
trout are caught in Lake Tahoe, weighing often over 
twenty pounds. 

Crystal Lake, west of Tahoe and distant two miles, 
is a small lake of like properties to Tahoe. It is about 
one mile long and half as wide. It is very deep. 
Some claim that it is deeper than Tahoe. Large 
numbers of fish are caught in this lake. Schools of 
them can be seen sporting and swimming down deep 
in the water. 

The river water in the Winter, in many instances, 
tastes as if free from minerals. But as soon as Win- 
ter is over, and the water gets warmer, then it tastes 
strongly of substances held in solution. 

Water is found in the West at every temperature, 
from the freezing to the boiHng point. It appears in 
various mineralized forms; sweet, sour, sulphurous, 
siliceous, chalybeate, and other forms. 



LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 



173 



Throughout the West hot springs are numerous. 
Some of these springs are of great depth, while others 
seem to be entirely on the surface. All around a 
hot spring the surface of the earth is heated, and is 
generally mound-shaped, sometimes several feet higher 
than the 
surround- 
ing sur- 
face earth. 
Sometimes 
the spring 
runs out 
f r o m the 
side of a 
mountain. 
The earth 
below is 
all crusted 
over with 
sediment- 
rock vary-^. 
ing in color. 
This crust 
of rock is 
formed out 

of the sub- VERNAL FALLS, CALIFORNIA. 

stances the water contains. Often it partakes of the 
nature of burnt brick, or clay. In some places it is 
compact, and in others it is not, but is in globular and 
sponge-like form. Sometimes it is of a white color. 




174 HOW / KNOW. 

When mounds are formed as at the hot springs in 
Ouray Park, Colorado, these mounds slope off grad- 
ually, until the surface earth is reached. The Pecoshia 
Springs are similar to these, but larger and grander. 
These springs are boiling hot. The water will boil 
and bubble up continually from the bottom to the sur- 
face, like water boiling in a vessel on a fire. The wa- 
ter in the Pecoshia Springs is nice, clear, and as pretty 
as any water I ever saw. Looking at the water, you 
would not suspect it to be so hot. A large stream of 
hot water flows continually from the spring, and retains 
its heat for a good distance before it finally cools off. 
Hundreds of these hot springs are found throughout 
the West, in Colorado, Utah, California, Arizona, and 
the States of Mexico on the north. 

The largest warm spring I ever saw was close to 
Ojo Caliente, in Mexico. It is over forty feet wide and 
very deep. ' It had no outlet that was visible; neither 
did the water reach the surface, as is generally the 
case where springs are perennial, and constantly dis- 
charging their volumes of water. A great many of 
these springs show no diminuition in the seasons of 
longest drought. Fresh-water springs are intermittent, 
depending entirely upon the prevailing character of the 
seasons. They gush forth afler heavy rains, and flow 
freely for a time, and then fail to flow in continued 
dry weather. 

Now allow me to lead you to the Yellowstone, 
to behold some of the natural wonders of that place. 
Here, far up the valley, we come to an ebb or tide 



LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 



175 



spring that flows at intervals or seasons. Part of the 
time the water 
gushes from one 
side of the knoll 
formed around it, 
and runs off* in a 
little rill; then, ceas- 
ing to flow on that 
side, it bulges forth 
on the other. It 
never, so far as I 
was able to dis- 
cover, runs from both 
sides at the same 
time. I was told, by 
an old gentleman 
w^ho had long lived 
with the Indians 
there, that this spring 
would run for ^\q 
or six months from 
one side, and then 
would shift to the 
other. In very dry 
seasons it would dry 
up. This is called 
a tide spring, and 
is singular in its 
way of running, and 

its hke is seldom "giantess," big geyser of the YELLOWSTONE. 




176 HOW I KNOW. 

seen elsewhere. Why the water changes its course in 
this way I am unable to say. Some say this is caused 
by the action of the tide. It may be, but I do not 
think so. I do not think the tide has anything to do 
with it, for this reason. This place is shut off from 
the ocean by two distinct ranges of mountains on the 
west, and a large extent of mountainous lands on the 
north and south. We are over seven thousand feet 
above sea level. Now if this spring is governed by 
the action of the tide, why does it not flow continually 
from the same side of the butte. But it does not, as I 
have been assured by the Indians themselves. I leave 
this, as I came to it, in my own mind — nonplussed. 

At some distance from this, lower down, we have a 
mud spring. This is not a spring that runs mud, 
neither is it, as I could see, a spring that runs water, 
although there is water in it, and that to an enormous 
depth. It has a natural wall formed of sediment, com- 
pact and soHd as though hewn from rock itself It 
was thirty feet to the water when I saw it, and I 
could not touch the bottom with two lariat ropes tied 
together, making nearly one hundred feet of line. This 
spring is in a little valley to itself, and is not only curi- 
ous, but marvelous. Seven miles below this mud spring 
is what is known as the Steamboat Spring. It works 
upon the principle of an exhaust to a steam engine. 
The water recedes from the surface of the earth around 
the spring, and then comes rushing up clear out and 
above the surrounding surface; then it recedes again to 
gather more force and come again. The time between 



LAKES AND SPRINGS OF THE FAR WEST. 177 

each two discharges is as much as four minutes. The 
temperature of this spring is one hundred and forty 
degrees. There is a vast amount of sulphur in it. 
The air for a long distance around is full of the odor 
of sulphur. 

In the valleys there are numerous alkaline streams, 
in some of v^hich the v^ater is so strong that nothing 
can drink it. They often dry up, when the alkali is 
left deposited along their beds, sometimes for two or 
three inches in depth. 

We are unable to trace the intimate connection of 
hot springs, and the discharging of hot water, steam 
and gases. Yet it is impossible to doubt the direct 
relationship of these different phenomena and their mu- 
tual dependence upon one grand cause, namely: A 
high temperature prevailing in the earth at an unknown 
depth below the surface. No doubt this is the original 
cause of earthquakes that burst forth with deep jarr- 
ing noises from below, without warning, and open up 
fissures, and rend the rocks apart. Evidences of this 
is seen in volcanoes, as on the Sandwich Islands, where 
there is a large opening all ablaze, hke a lake on fire. 
Around these springs the earth seems to be only a 
crust hollowed out underneath. So that one is treading 
as it were upon an arched bridge over the cauldron 
below. 



178 HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

LA PAZ. 

I WILL devote this chapter to giving a bit of my 
experience while connected with the surveying 
party in Arizona. We had halted at Fort McDowell. 
I had expected to meet some friends from California at 
this place. When we reached the Fort, my friends were 
not there; but I found a letter requesting me to come on 
immediately and meet them in La Paz. La Paz is a small 
town in Yuma County. I therefore bustled around and 
was soon ready, and waiting for the "Jerkey" to take 
me through. I was jolted, bounced and bumped about 
in the stage all day, all night, and next day, without 
sleep or comfort. 

Let my readers for a moment imagine themselves 
in some cramped-up, little, crowded-to-death corner 
of one of these overloaded stage-coaches; the seats 
are all filled with passengers; the space between the 
seats is filled with trunks, vaHses, blankets, bedding of 
all kinds, new blankets and old blankets, half-worn 
blankets, torn blankets, and bedding of the same de- 
scription; prospecting outfits of picks, shovels, pans 
and provisions; arms and ammunition, enough for an 
arsenal. The boots are full of mail sacks, packages 
and papers. The passengers are of all kinds, grades 
and nationalities, and crowd full every inch of available 



LA PAZ. 179 

room inside and on top of the coach. Now you are 
to be whirled along at a most reckless rate over a 
rough mountain road. At one moment, passengers 
and traps are all piled up in confusion in one end of 
the stage, to be suddenly thrown the next moment to 
the other, there to be jostled, now to one side, then 
with renewed force to the other; and thus you go on 
bounding and bouncing over rocks, through ruts, 
hollows, holes, wash-outs and everything else that is 
met in the road. This description gives but a faint idea 
of stage riding. However, stage-coach passengers, 
especially in the Territories, are not supposed to have 
any feelings. 

The expressman knows by name every one he 
meets along his route. He is continually tossing 
letters, newspapers, periodicals and bundles from the 
top of the stage. His legs often appear in frightful 
proximity to the rapidly revolving wheels, for he is 
climbing on and off the coach while it is going at a 
sweeping rate. In gallantry, energy and knowledge he 
is generally superior to all the other passengers. He will 
answer the questions of a whole group of persons and 
attend to some matter of business, all at the same time. 

When I alighted from the coach at La Paz, I was 
like one paralyzed in all his joints and limbs. I could 
scarcely stand, much less w^alk. 

I looked around at the adobe walls and the deserted 
houses with walls, windows, roofs, floors, everything from 
garret to cellar, from pavement to rear fence, all going 
to decay. I thought the Mexicans here much worse 



180 HOW I KNOW. 

off than those in other localities. Very rough-looking 
customers were to be seen in front of saloons, groceries 
and in o-roups on corners. I could not but think that 
a o-reat many of them must be common vagrants, with 
no means of support. The word ragged conveys but 
a feeble idea of their miserable dress. These poor 
wretches all carried six-shooters, and knives sticking 
out boldly and defiantly from their persons. Verily, 
they were hard-looking specimens of the human race. 
I gathered my things from among the bundles that 
had been tossed pell-mell in a heap together from the 
stage, and went to the hotel. The only one then in 
the town was kept by an American. I stood gloomily 
clutching my things, waiting until my host should give 
me checks for them. Some how or other, he had got 
his checks mismatched, and I thought he never would 
find two of a corresponding number. He did finally, 
however, fish up the checks from some quarter of the 
house, or out of some of his pockets. Giving me one, 
he tied the remaining tag to my things. Being relieved 
of my baggage, I turned and took a seat. The land- 
lord then began to ply me with questions. "Do you 
desire a room for the night?" "Where did you get on 
the stage?" "Do you want supper?" "How are the 
roads?" "Any road-agents at work down about the 
Fort?" and so on, until I wondered if he would ever 
come to the end. He then offered me the drinks, 
which I politely dechned, telling him I had never 
drank any in my life, and could very well get along 
without it now. "Well, then, do you ever smoke?" 



LA PAZ. 181 

"Yes, sir." So I accepted a cigar that was certainly 
made fiiom some weed worse if possible, than tobacco, 
and that would not draw any more than a piece of 
iron -wood. I soon tired of such enjoyment as an 
effort to smoke this afforded. I threw the cigar aside, 
and went out and took a wash. After this, I felt in a 
better humor in mind, and considerably revived other- 
wise. 

After I had taken a survey of the people, and 
the things inside of the house, I was not very favora- 
bly impressed with my stopping-place. Everything 
and everybody seemed to be suffering from a severe 
attack of hard times. The windows and doors were all 
cut and scratched; various calculations and reckonings 
had been scrawled upon the door and window casings 
and walls, and names had been written everywhere, 
until there was no available room for more. Every 
thing was disagreeable and uninviting. I felt doomed 
to dreariness. Everything to intoxicate and degrade 
was here. There was the "valley tan" flavor of uneasi- 
ness hovering over the whole place. Here were men 
who long had outraged every law of Nature, gathered 
in groups around circular tables, gambling. Others 
went staggering around the room, or were lying pros- 
trate under the influence of liquor. 

I went to the door, and looked out on the street. 
The sight was appalling. Here were men swearing in 
a jargon of Spanish and broken English, with now and 
then a plain-spoken English phrase, for there were some 
Americans in town. Some were betting on horse- 



182 HOW I KNOW. 

races; some on cock-fights, bull-fights, foot-racing, 
jumping, wrestling, and fiature chances in general. 
Some were stripping for a fight; others fighting, chums 
taking sides either actively or with a great deal of harm- 
less bluster. Some had pistols drawn, and the whole 
town seemed to be in a riot. The tumult and racket 
sometimes lulled for a moment, only to break out again 
afresh in new groups quickly formed elsewhere. It 
seemed to me that boarding in this place would only 
be from the lack of a better place to go to. 

While I was standing, contemplating the different 
faces before me, the landlord announced that "hash" 
was ready. As I entered the door, a number of per- 
sons (I suppose, regular boarders) made a rush for the 
dining-room, and engaged in a general scramble as to 
who should get seated first, just as if there was not 
enough for a mouthful a piece. I got a seat, finally, 
at one end of the table, but really I would have pre- 
ferred to have had my portion handed out to me, that 
I might have eaten it under some tree, and there made 
my dinner in peace. Every fellow was going for what 
he could get, as if it were the last meal that he ever 
expected to eat, and as if he had not partaken of a 
mouthful for several days. 

After the meal was over, we went back to the 
saloon, (for this was also the sitting-room). The 
crowd immediately arranged themselves around the 
stove, some with their feet on the stove, and leaning 
back in different positions ; others with their legs hang- 
ing over and resting upon chairs, some smoking, others 



LA PAZ. 183 

chewing tobacco, as if they all were trying to get the 
taste of the meal out of their mouths. Thus, they 
resigned themselves to indigestion. The landlord was 
a short, heavy-set, good-looking specimen of a frontiers- 
man. His every action and whole manner showed him 
to be a man accustomed to but one single thought, and 
that thought was to get all he could, regardless of the 
method employed. I sat and talked with him awhile 
and found him perfectly at home upon the different 
topics of conversation. He told me several stories, all 
bearing a strong flavor of the roughness of the place. 
He told me also what a wilderness of a place it was 
when he first moved there. I could but think while 
he was telling me this that it must have grown worse 
instead of better, since it was settled; for, though I had 
seen rough civihzation before, I had seen none to com- 
pare with what I saw that day. He told how he had 
killed several "Injuns," and several times was nearly 
scalped himself. All this he told with much candor, 
but, as I thought, with a good deal of braggadocio. 

I after a little left the bar-room, and went to the 
post-office. There I found a letter, informing me that 
my friends would not be in town for three days yet to 
come. I then took a stroll through the streets, if 
streets they can be called. Here I beheld numerous 
specimens of the "Greaser," dark and swarthy, and well 
named Greaser^ each jabbering to his friend in "Mexi- 
cana." I saw the freighter loading up his teams with 
hides, to take to some of the coast towns in California. 
I found the saloon-keeper everywhere, with his sign up 



184 HOW I KNOW. 

above the door, and, perchance, he himself standing 
as conspicuously in the door-way, inviting those w^ho 
would to indulge in drink. I whiled my hours away, 
strolling about until time to return to the hotel. 

After resting a while, I prepared to retire for the 
night. Preceded by my redoubtable hero of a host, 
and a flaring candle, I followed up-stairs to my room. 
It was the only spare bed he had, he told me. The 
room had a cloth partition on one side, and large 
holes through the wooden partition on the other. It 
was unfurnished, nothing in it, except the spare bed. 
It had a very small window on one side, which rattled 
fearfully every time the wind came against it. From 
the bar-room came one continued uproar of profane 
epithets and drunken orgies, all night long. I tried to 
sleep, but could not. I covered up my head, thinking 
to drown the tumult. Everything I could do failed to 
let me have a moment's relief from the gang of gam- 
bling and drinking fellows down stairs. The night 
was long. I thought daylight would never come. I 
arose early in the morning, and was told that I could 
get no breakfast until seven o'clock. I had firmly 
resolved to leave this boarding-house that morning, 
provided I could find another. So killing time as best 
I could, until breakfast was over, I started in search of 
another hotel. Any place I thought would be better 
than that one. 

After searching the town over, I at last found a 
place which I thought would suit me. It was a small, 
two-story adobe house, kept by an old lady and her two 



LA PAZ. 185 

daughters. After all arrangements had been made, 
and it was settled that I should take up my stay with 
them until my companions came from Los Angelos, 
I went back to the hotel to get my things. When I 
arrived, everything was still in an uproar. One big 
Texan, beastly drunk, was lying flat on his back in 
the bar-room, with a large dragoon revolver in each 
hand, shooting at everything in the room he could get 
sight of. He had frightened everybody out of the 
room, so that he was like Robinson Crusoe, monarch 
of all he surveyed. He had the large looking-glass 
that was back of the bar shattered to pieces with bul- 
lets. I suppose he had been trying to kill himself, or 
the fellow that looked like him in the glass. There were 
pictures with holes shot through them, holes in the 
ceiling over head, holes in the windows. The stove 
was lying on its side, broken up in his amusement. 
He had done a great deal of mischief in a short time. 
I told my host I would settle my bill and take my 
things. He was sorry, as he expressed himself, that I 
would not remain longer, but I had not an insurance 
on my life, though I would have taken out a policy 
at almost any price, the way I was feeling just 
then. I settled up, and gladly took my departure from 
that ill-managed house. 

The idea of going where I thought there would be 
a social family circle, was particularly pleasant. This 
would naturally be the case with most any single man 
like myself I had been tumbling and pitching over 
pumice rocks in the wilds of Arizona, with a load of 



186 HOW I KNOW. 

surveying apparatus upon my back, for the season past. I 
pictured to myself the sitting-room and dining-room with 
the old lady and two buxom, grown daughters, bustling 
around to make the place sociable and comfortable. But 
how often our imaginations prove delusions ! I shouldered 
my things, and off I went to my new boarding-house. 
I had my mind fixed on how I would act, and what 
nice things I would say to the old lady, and how sweetly 
I would talk to the daughters. I heard them bustling 
around in the house, when I knocked at the hall door. 
My knock was answered by the eldest daughter. I 
was told to walk in. I was just commencing one of 
my sweet sentences, and had just got out, " How ha — " 
when my foot caught in a hole in the carpet. I never 
finished my sentence, for I went falHng into the hall, 
over the young lady, upsetting her and knocking 
down the hat-stand, making a dreadful racket and 
crash. 

The noise brought Mrs. Pierce and her remaining 
daughter to the scene, to behold my things strewn 
along the hall. The eldest daughter had regained an 
upright position against the wall, and was no doubt 
wondering what kind of a boarder they had got, and I 
was trying to regain my equilibrium in another part of 
the hall, with all my sweet words withered and forever 
lost. Mrs. Pierce had her sleeves rolled up to her el- 
bows. She had been making up the bread. Not a 
smile was visible on her countenance. Her daughter 
with a dusting-pan was close by, wondering no doubt 
if I was drunk or had taken a " conniption fit," which 



LA PAZ. 187 

last, I presume, was most likely. Her sister was evi- 
dently frightened almost out of her wits. My position 
was to me more embarrassing than amusing. I blurted 
out some kind of an apology. I do not remember 
what I said. When I had gathered my things together 
I was ushered into a small room, certainly not very 
well furnished, which was used as a sitting-room. 
Here I was left alone to wonder what they thought 
of me. I heard the daughters say to each other, 
"How clumsy he is!" 

" Yes, he is so. I wonder if he is drunk. " 

"What a stumbling way he has of coming into a 
room!" 

"I should say he had. Did you see him? He fell 
over me and knocked me down. He frightened me 
so I could hardly get my breath to speak. I wonder 
who he is, and what he has got in his vahse, and how 
long he intends to stay here," etc., with innumerable 
other questions and comments, until I thought my 
position rather unenviable and unpromising. 

I had not been there long, before dinner was 
announced. When I went in to dinner, I found the 
table had been laid with care, and that I was the only 
boarder present. Mrs. Pierce headed the table, and 
the two daughters sat opposite me, eating in a lazy 
manner, and occasionally casting inquisitive glances 
across the table at me, (a sort of Arkansas courtship). 
I was dreadfully hungry, and it seemed to me that they 
were counting how many chops and what amount of 
other things I ate, so that they might calculate the 



Jl>. V 



188 HOW I KNOW. 

expense of my meal. I was ashamed of my appetite, 
but I determined to eat as much as I could. Toward 
the end of my meal, for the others had finished, the 
eldest daughter arose and donned her hat and shawl. 
Having given her mother some instructions in reference 
to supper, and bade us " Good afternoon," she took her 
departure. I heard her slam the door after her as 
she left the house. I took the hint and stopped eating. 
I betook myself to the country for the remainder of the 
day. I saw nothing worthy of special notice, only a dry, 
barren, desolate-looking plain, dotted all over here and 
there with buttes of black rock or lava stone. When 
I returned to town, the sun was sinking from sight 
behind the dark-colored mountains in the west. 

After supper I strolled around over town again a 
little while, to see, as on the previous evening, crowds 
assembled to again pass the night away in gambling, 
drinking, and carousing. But this time there were 
to be more serious results. There was quite a lot of 
soldiers in town this evening for some purpose, I know 
not what. All the gambling houses were filled with 
soldiers and natives. They spent the evening in gam- 
bling, until it became monotonous, as I suppose, when 
soldiers and citizens changed the sport into shooting 
and cutting one another. Two men were killed out- 
right during the night, and others were badly hurt. 
This drunken and gambling carousal was going on as 
long as I remained in La Paz. Horse-racing, chicken- 
fighting, dog-fighting, and everything involving the 
principle of chance was sought after for gambling pur- 



LA PAZ. 189 

poses. Every occasion of this kind generally ended 
in a row, to be settled with the pistol or knife. 

After I had seen enough of their rioting, I returned 
to my lodgings. I was tired and sleepy, and soon 
went up-stairs to bed. I have seen better beds in 
Ohio. This one was filled with bed-bugs. The walls 
of the room were filled; the floor was full. They 
were of all sizes and colors. They all wanted to be in 
the bed. I could see them, and smell them, and could 
hear them falling from the ceiling upon the bed. They 
ran all over me. They bit me with an energy that 
could only have been inspired by much previous fasting. 
I suppose I was a stranger, and they enjoyed a change 
of diet. Sleep was out of the question. After I had 
lain for, perhaps, half an hour turning and twisting 
frantically, trying to keep the bugs out of my ears and 
face, I began to wish I had not gone to bed. I re- 
gretted that I had come to La Paz. When a restless 
hour had been spent with the bugs, I got up and 
dressed myself, swearing inwardly at La Paz and the 
whole country. 

There had been a fire down in the sitting-room. Per- 
haps it was still burning. I had brought a small piece 
of candle up-stairs With, me, but no matches. I opened 
my door and groped my way along the passage made 
doubly gloomy by the whistling of the night wind. 
In feeling for the stairway, I got to the wrong end of 
the opening. There was no railing around it, and, 
groping along in the darkness, I stepped off into space 
and fell down through the opening, hard enough to 



190 HOW I KNOW. 

have broken every bone in my body. The memory of 
that fall makes me laugh even now. I do w^onder if other 
people ever fall down stairs. It gives one curious feel- 
ings, to fall down stairs in a strange house. I picked 
. myself up as best I could at the foot of the stairs, and 
entered the room. I found the fire still burninof a 
little. I was very much jammed and bruised, and was 
bleeding in several places where I had been hurt 
by the fall. I stirred the fire up, and, drawing a chair 
close to the stove, was just falHng into some serious 
meditations over my situation, when the door was 
opened, and the eldest daughter looked into the room 
in a frightened way. She had heard me falling down 
stairs, and, wondering what could cause so much dis- 
turbance, she had gathered up courage enough to come 
down and see. I tried to explain the situation by tell- 
ing her that the bed they had given me to sleep in was 
already taken with hungry occupants, etc. 

We fell into a conversation, and I learned many 
particulars from her in reference to the history of the 
family. There were only the three of them at home. 
They had a sister married, and a brother in the Fresno 
Mines, in California. Mr. Pierce, their father, had been 
killed m a row two years before at one of the mining 
camps north. We talked until I was sleepy. I then 
asked her to give me a spare blanket, if they had one. 
She gave me a number of them. I then made a bed 
on the floor, where I enjoyed as good a sleep, as I ever 
had, for I was tired and sleepy. I did not awake until 
the sun was shining brightly through the window. I 



LA PAZ. 191 

remained in La Paz and vicinity for two more days 
and nights, when my friends arrived. I slept on the 
floor each night, in preference to any of their beds. 

Before I leave I will sum up my impressions of the 
place briefly. The sun blazes down upon the town 
from the cloudless skies day after day in succession, 
until one's weary eyes long for relief from the dazzling 
light. There can not be found a hotter place on the 
American Continent, taking the year around, than 
Yuma County, Arizona. The natives of La Paz are 
principally Mexican Greasers, Their stock in trade is 
horse-racing, whisky, cards, tobacco, cigarettes, a knife, 
one and often two revolvers, a lasso or lariat, with a 
few other like articles. It may be that it would be 
more gracious, and more to my credit, did I not find 
so much fault with the natives of Arizona. But I spent 
some time there, and all the scenes I have narrated, 
and will yet speak of, took place. Consequently, I am 
profoundly of the opinion that a good part of the natives 
need to be enlightened and civilized. 

I went back to the Fort again on the stage, as I 
came. We went first to Los Posos, a Spanish town; 
then, from there, we went across over the South Granite 
Mountains. The next station we halted at was Deep 
Well, where we cross the Mass Kampa River, which is 
one of the northern tributaries of the Gila River; thence 
to White Tanks, and thence to Fort McDowell. Fort 
McDowell is situated on the Francisco River. This 
stream empties into the Solado River, and the Solado 
runs into the Gila. Fort McDowell is hemmed in on 



192 HOW I KNOW. 

all sides by low, broken hills, much lower than those a 
little farther distant. These side hills produce but Httle 
vegetation. Scarcely any grass could be seen on them. 
At the foot of these hills, in some places where there 
is water, as along the river bottoms, there is some very 
good grass; but it is not as plentiful, neither is the soil 
as productive, as where the climate is cooler, and there 
is less drought. Even if it rains hard in Arizona, the 
water soon disappears in the sandy soil. The Fort is 
situated midway between Prescott on the north and 
Tucson on the south. 

I was glad enough to arrive back again, where 
my companions were awaiting my return. It was 
about eleven o'clock at night when the "Jerkey" 
wagon drove up. I was tired and hungry. My appe- 
tite flourishes with exercise in the open air. But I had 
a good supper of venison, fish, potatoes, bread, etc., 
followed by an hour's talk with those who had not yet 
retired to sleep, but had been awaiting the arrival of 
the mail. The remainder of the night, spent in sound 
sleep, put me in good shape again, and I felt better 
than I had at any time since I had left there to go to 
La Paz. Roughing it is very pleasant, of course; but 
I would not advise anyone to try it on. In this expe- 
rience you must meet with various, unexpected, and 
vexatious misfortunes, seldom thought of or met else- 
where. It is only the man of rare good fortune that 
in such a life as this meets with sufficient reward to 
justify and compensate him for all his loss of comfort 
and enjoyment. 



5 TO CK-RAISING, 193 



CHAPTER XV. 

STOCK-RAISING. 

AMONG all the various enterprises in the West 
stock-raising ranks first. With many of these 
western settlers it seems as natural and easy to raise 
stock successfully as it is for the farmer of Illinois to 
raise corn. Some men are always more successful in an 
undertaking than others are who may have equal, if not 
better, advantages; and they generally succeed, too, with 
more ease, less attention to business apparently, and 
with a certain don 't-care, go-ahead kind of spirit that 
seems, to a beholder, to border closely upon recklessness. 
The ease and success with which this business is pros- 
ecuted, depends principally upon the number of cattle 
one has in the herd, and the locality and situation of 
the range. As in other enterprises, the more attention 
bestowed upon it, and the greater care exercised, the 
greater the profits. To start into the cattle business a man 
must have money. He purchases a brand for marking his 
stock, which is generally the initials of his name, or some- 
times an imitation of some instrument. This brand or 
mark is recorded at the nearest county clerk's office. 

The man that goes into raising stock must 
content himself to live along the frontier, away 
from all society, except of a few frontier neighbors. 
He is shut off from all communication with the 

J3 



194 HO W I KNO W. 

world at large, away from railroads and post-offices, 
sometimes as much as three hundred miles — in earlier 
days, much further than this, indeed. Stock-raisers gen- 
erally go into the foot hills, because there they find past- 
uraofe and water. The foot-hill and mountain bunch 
erass is excellent food for stock. The herd consists of 
cattle of all kind and all ages. After these are all prop- 
erly branded, they are turned loose on their respective 
ranges. Some of the stockmen who have been in the 
business a long time have enormous herds. These are 
left in the hands of herders, or, as they are called in 
Texas, " Cow-boys." These herders are a very rough, 
uncouth, and untidy class of fellows. 

When an animal is sold from a herd, then the former 
owner brands it with what is known as a vending brand. 
This vending brand is recorded like the former. It is 
used to cancel the former brand. When this is applied 
to an animal, it indicates that the former owner relin- 
quishes all right and title to said animal. When an 
owner's whole stock is purchased, then the purchaser 
generally buys the brand also, and that saves canceHng. 
All the animals that can be found bearing the former 
owner's brand, belong to the last purchaser. When 
animals are bought and driven away, it is customary to 
give a bill of sale, which bill is recognized and re- 
spected by law. 

In early days an owner of cattle could drive his herd 
where he liked; but now there are inspectors in nearly 
every county in which a large business in stock-raising 
is carried on. Before stock is taken from the county, 



5 TO CK-RA I SING. 



195 



it is inspected by the County Inspector. Then the 
owner is permitted to pass with his stock where he 




A WESTERN FRONTIERSMAN. 

pleases. When stock is on the ranores that the owners 
have assigned for it, it is left entirely in the hands of 



196 HOW I KNOW. 

herders, or cow-boys. These look after the stock, stand 
guard over it, and, if any animals wander away, they 
look after and hunt them up. Oftentimes several own- 
ers of stock join together, and let their herders run the 
same range. Some of the herding grounds are as much 
as fifty miles square. The cattle are allowed to run at 
will on this large scope of territory. The herders re- 
main on the outskirts, where they ride around from post 
to post, keeping the stock within the proper bounds. 
A good range consists of any territory away from the 
settlements, with sufficient room, plenty of good grass, 
a supply of water, and plenty of shelter, either timber or 
bluffs. The herder is allowed some'times as many as five 
or six ponies, which he rides by turns while herding. 

The most work the herder has, is when a herd is 
removed from one range to another. Then great dili- 
gence is required from the herders, until the animals 
become accustomed to their new range. This may 
take some time, as some animals are naturally much 
inclined to wander. If some start from a herd, a great 
many more will follow. If animals leave the herd, 
and the direction they have gone is not known, which 
is often the case, then the range is circled until their 
tracks are discovered, when they are followed up and 
brought back. If stock is taken to a new range in the 
fall of the year, and is fed and salted occasionally, 
until they can get good grass, they do not then incline 
so much to rambhng. Stock is very seldom fed in the 
West, where herded. Work cattle and milch cows 
are sometimes fed in bad weather. 



STOCK-RAISING. 197 

The stock-men have certain times when they make 
what they call " round-ups." Then all who are inter- 
ested in stock-raising, turn out and round in their 
stock. The calves are all branded and marked by 
their respective owners. This is an exciting time. 
The long-horned Texas and Mexican cattle, the full- 
bloods of that breed, wild and vicious, come pitching 
at horse and rider with all their mad and enraged 
strength. They will run right over one, if possible, and 
trample and gore him to death. 

Here is Mr. Rust's description of the cow-boys, 
and their customs: "There are various rules and cus- 
toms among stock-men. Some of their practices are 
in diametrical opposition to the statutory provisions and 
common law. Cow-boys are said, in the way of laud- 
ation, to be brave, bold, free-hearted and true to their 
friends. In the fulfillment of the above specification, 
they take pride, even though not in strict obedience to 
law and order. Yet, the services of the expert cow- 
boys are indispensable, and they must be tolerated, 
although they arrogate to themselves superior powers, 
and at times set law at defiance. There is practically 
no appeal from their decisions, they being out of the 
reach of law. They defend themselves most vigor- 
ously against what they may deem any encroachment 
upon their sacred rights. Arrests or apprehensions are 
seldom made on their grounds. They, like the Mor- 
mons, keep the law in their own hands. 

" When a new cow-boy enters a camp, a few of the 
boys propose a hunt. All agree. A part of the 



198 HOW / KNOW. 

campers, including the new one, wheel into rank for 
the hunt. They make a half day's ride out to some 
convenient hunting ground, where they prepare a 
camp. They leave here a proper number on guard, of 
which number the new comer is one. This guard is 
to give an alarm, in case of a surprise by Indians. 
Another party, from the main camp, in full Indian 
costume then comes rushing upon the camp about 
midnight. They fire twenty or thirty blank shots, and 
give the w^ar whoop. The sleeping hunters awake, 
and raise the cry of ^Indians, boys, Indians! Run, 
run!' All, Greeny included, rush pell-mell into the 
bush, leaving the horses. It often happens that the 
new one is never seen again. I do not mean to insin- 
uate that there is ever foul play used on such occasions. 
The new comer has simply gone off after a stock of 



courage." 



There are many such tricks resorted to, for the 
sole purpose of testing the courage of a new hand. 
These cow-boys, or stock-herders, are bound by the sa- 
cred ties of brotherhood to defend one another. These, 
with the Indians, are about the only neighbors one 
has on the frontier. 

Often you will find men with small herds, which 
they look after themselves; they seldom venture as far 
away from the pale of society as those with larger 
herds, who have a number of cow-boys in their 
employ. 

The life of the frontier herder is one of continual 
danger. Indians are supposed to be either on reserva- 



STOCK-RAISING. 



199 



tions and peaceable, or back from the frontier. Yet, 
they will often come swooping down like an eagle after 




"^^^^--.0... 



READY FOR A RAID. 



its prey, and kill the herders, and drive the whole 
herd away to their retreat. And this is so common an 
occurrence, that it happens every day in some part of 



200 HOW I KNOW. 

the West. Whole settlements have been left destitute 
of horses, cattle and sheep, in a short time, as the 
principal part of the frontier-man's wealth consists of 
stock. When this stock is run off, he is in a very poor 
condition. Frequently, hard fights follow^, to recover 
property from the Indians, where whole settlements 
are sometimes either murdered or driven away from 
their homes entirely. Of this I will speak again, 
further on. 



STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER, 201 



CHAPTER XVI. 

STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 

NEW Year's Day, 1877, found me in San Fran- 
cisco, California. I had for some time been deal- 
ing in mining stocks, and, like the majority of people 
who dabbled in stocks that winter, I had been unsuc- 
cessful. I had bought Ophir, Mexican, Union-Consol- 
idated and Sierra Nevada stock at a high figure. 
The Board of Brokers in the Stock Exchange is 
divided into two factions, one the opposite of the 
other. These factions are known to the public by 
their well-earned titles of " Bulls " and " Bears. " 
The object of the "Bulls" is to keep stock up to a 
good price; while the "Bears" do their best to break 
the market by large sales of stock, often going so far 
as to sell stock that is not in their possession. 

During the Winter both factions had taken a very 
active part; but the " Bears " finally won the field, and 
the " Bulls " had been compelled to retreat in confusion. 
The market had gone down, until mining stock was 
a drug. Previous to this time stocks had fluctuated 
more or less, and generally stood at fair prices. A 
person of shrewd judgment could make fair profits on 
quick sales, often doubling the money invested in a 
week's transaction of business. I remember that in the 
early part of the Winter I made a purchase of several 



202 HO W I KNO W. 

shares in one of the leading Washoe mines, and in ten 
days I sold out for nearly four times what the stock 
cost me. But, about January i, there came a depres- 
sion. To double up stock now was only to lose, and to 
double on a margin was sure destruction. I with hun- 
dreds of others found myself losing daily. I could see no 
better way out than to sell, and save what I could by 
putting it into my pocket. I did so. I then found that 
I had lost about two-thirds of the money I had when I 
beeran. Out of the eleven thousand dollars I started in 
with, I saved three thousand. 

I continued watching the market closely, and often 
thought another investment in such and such stock 
would prove a splendid speculation. But I was afraid 
to invest. This was my situation, when I received a 
dispatch from my uncle in Utah Territory to come on 
there immediately. He wished me to invest some 
money in teams, and to go with him as a partner to Col- 
orado with flour. We could buy flour in Utah for 
three dollars a hundred. In Ouray, Colorado, flour 
was worth fifteen dollars a hundred, and we could 
readily get that price for all we might take there. We 
would have a good road all the way, but it was through 
the Ute and Piute country. The road was traveled but 
little, since few persons cared to undertake such a 
hazardous journey. My uncle had just come over the 
road in company with some others, and thought that 
w^e could make the trip in thirty-five days with freight 
teams. Having been a heavy loser in California stocks, 
I thought this looked like a big thing for me, and that 



STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 



203 



I would not be likely to find any better opportun- 
ity to redeem my shattered fortunes. I sent a letter to 
my uncle, asking for full particulars, and meanwhile 
began to settle up all my affairs, preparatory to joining 
him. My letter was delayed for some time on the road. 
I did not get an answer until near the end of the month. 
When the answer did come, it was sufficiently satis- 
factory to induce me to make the venture and see 
what we could do. So, on the fourth of February, I 














SALT LAKE CITY, 1S57. 

left San Francisco for Salt Lake City, which place I 
reached two days after. The city of the Latter-Day 
Saints presented a bustling, thriving appearance, having 
groAvn from a mere straggling village in 1857 to a 
Mormon metropoHs of some 15,000 inhabitants in 1874. 
I found Uncle there, but by no means ready to start. 
Here I met with a number of persons I had known 
when I first came West. Some of them I now found 



204 HOW J KNOW. 

in good circumstances. Others were evidently rather 
the worse for hard luck; a great many of them in very 
poor circumstances, without money or property of 
any kind. 

I was there several days, waiting to see what was 
to be done, for I had learned on my arrival that there 
were to be three partners in the undertaking. I amused 
myself by going to the theater in the evenings, and by 
hunting up and talking with old acquaintances during 
the day. I went one day to see Captain Bogardus kill 
his forty-four birds out of a possible fifty. The Cap- 
tain gained celebrity in San Francisco in the sport of 
shooting. He is considered the crack shot of the 
world. The boarding at the Salt Lake House, where 
I stopped, was wretched. I could not stand it. I 
slept there, and went to the Arcade Restaurant, where 
I could get a good meal, for fifty cents, of anything I 
called for. 

On Thursday, the 15th, we went to Lowell & Co., in 
Salt Lake City, and bought wagons, and a complete out- 
fit of everything pertaining to them, as bows, covers, etc. 
The next day we shipped these, via the Utah Southern 
Railroad, to York, at that time the terminus of the road. It 
is nearly one hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. We 
went to York the same day, unloaded our wagons, and 
set them up. They were all large, four and one-half 
inch thimble, Fish Brothers' wagons, made at Racine, 
Wisconsin, with high beds and broad tread. We staid 
in York over night, and the next morning hired a 
man to take the wagons to Fountain Green, a settle- 



STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 205 

ment in the northern part of San Pete County. We 
went to Salt Creek by stage, and staid all night at a 
Gentile hotel, owned and managed by a Mr. Seely. 
There were a great many miners and others there, all 
Gentiles. 

Mr. Seely being a Gentile, the Mormons would not 
put up with him. They preferred to stop with Mr. 
Foot, who kept a Mormon house. He is the man who 
has attained considerable notoriety from having taken 
so active a part in sheltering and deceiving the two 
wounded men who had escaped and made their way to 
his place, more dead than alive, from the horrible 
butchery of their party on the banks of the Sevier 
River, south of Salt Creek, by Brigham Young's in- 
famous " destroying angels." After these two poor 
fellows had remained some days with Foot, they en- 
deavored to procure transportation to Salt Lake City. 
An old wagon was furnished them by one man, and 
after a little time they found a Mormon, who agreed to 
hitch his team to the wagon and take them to the city. 
Foot had taken possession of their revolvers, and would 
not give them up. He, by the way, has one of them 
yet in his possession, a very handsome revolver, 
mounted in gold. When they had gone a short dis- 
tance from town, the driver halted under the pretense 
of watering his horses. The two poor fellows were 
again immediately se4: upon by some of these hellish 
rascals, who were lying in wait for them, and shot with 
doubled-barreled shot-guns. One of them fell dead in 
the wagon, and the other on the outside. Their bodies 



206 HOW I KNOW. 

were then taken to what is known as the Bottomless 
Spring, close by the scene of the tragedy, and there 
weighted with rocks, and thrown in; the cold-blooded 
murderers thus hiding in this spring the evidences of 
another of their most foul deeds. This same Foot is 
still keeping a hotel in Salt Creek, or was when I was 
there, and the rest of the perpetrators of that deed are 
running at large. 

At Mr. Seely's, I met with a number of persons I 
had formerly known. Among the rest were the Gilson 
brothers, owners of a large herd of California horses, 
which they kept in Castle Valley. Sam Gilson was 
United States Marshal in Utah. These brothers are 
large, strong, daring and resolute men, each standing 
over six feet in height. They are very well liked by the 
Gentiles, but feared and held in dread by the Mormons, 
who repeatedly make assaults on them. They are all 
scarred and cut in many places on their persons, but, 
like cats, they are very tenacious of life. 

The next day we hired a man to take us to Manti. 
This is a settlement in San Pete County, and entirely 
Mormon. The Mormons are erecting at this place 
another temple, similar to the one in Salt Lake City. 
Here we went to buying work-oxen of the Mormons. 
We wanted fifty yoke of cattle, so that we could work 
six yoke to the team, and have two yoke as extras. 
Six yoke of cattle and two wagons constitute a team, 
with one driver. We were in Manti until the morning 
of the twenty-fifth. Wc had not yet bought a suffi- 
cient number of cattle. We took twenty-four yoke 



STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER, 207 

and went to Fountain Green, to Mr. Dougall's flour- 
ing mill, and loaded up fifty thousand pounds of flour. 
There was no trouble in driving the cattle up to 
Fountain Green, for they were all loose, and traveled 
as fast as we wanted to go. 

I had never driven cattle in my life, but I did not 
see anything to hinder me from driving. I thought 
about all there was to do was to walk along and keep 
them in the road, and, if an ox shirked a little, to touch 
him up with the whip. But that word "whip" brings 
to my memory the many painful cuttings and slashings 
that I inflicted upon myself. I had a whip with a lash 
eighteen feet long, near two inches in diameter at the 
largest part, and a stock about four feet long. This whip 
worried me. I could not crack it like other ox drivers 
did. I was continually trying. I wondered how they 
could make their whip crack so. I thought there 
must be some slight in it. My companions in the pro- 
fession had been driving before; they had had experience. 
They tried to teach me. I would try, try again; I 
kept trying, and all I could accomplish would be to 
slash the tail end of my whip around my head and 
neck. I would then try the under hand lick; w^ould 
succeed in cutting myself most unmercifully around the 
legs, or else in getting the lash all coiled and entangled 
about my feet, almost throwing me down. I would 
stop and uncoil it, and get it all straightened out, and 
then try to swing it over and around my head, but 
there was something wrong with the whip, for the 
snapper and my head were continually coming in 



208 HOW I KNOW, 

contact with each other, bringing the water to my eyes. 
I was, of course, angry, and out of patience, but I kept 
my sufferings to myself. Myself and whip afforded 
much amusement to the boys. I was vexed to think I 
was outdone. I would steal out with my whip where 
I thought I would be unobserved, to practice striking 
at some object. But the boys were wide-awake fellows 
when there was any prospect for fun. They would 
steal a march on me, and He concealed and watch me 
cutting and slashing away with that whip in very dead 
earnest. When they had laughed until their sides were 
sore, and their cheeks were wet with tears of amuse- 
ment (and mine, meanwhile, with tears of anger and 
pain), they would then laugh outright, and make their 
presence known to me. Then I would invariably wilt. 
After our flour was all loaded, we then set to work 
to yoke up the cattle. That was another job I 
dreaded, and the more so after we had the cattle corral- 
ed in a large pen. I was nervous, I have no doubt, 
for some of the cattle had horns, and, oh! what horns! 
— nearly as long as the rest of the body; they looked 
frightful. Some of the cattle were wild, very wild, 
while others were friendly, in fact, too friendly, for they 
would come as far as they could get their horns 
through the corral fence to meet us. I do not know 
why, but somehow or other, it became an understood 
thing, from the start, that I was to help yoke and 
tend the cattle. I cannot tell the experience of 
others, but my first lesson in yoking up convinced me 
of several things. First, that Texas and Mexican cat- 



STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 209 

tie have horns, and that they are not particular how 
they use them. And, secondly, that each one of them 
is in possession of a pair of hind legs that a mule might 
be proud of Probably the only thing that kept me 
from using my revolver, which I was carrying in my 
belt, was that such action might be fraught with much 
more danger to the persons around the corral, watching, 
laughing and joking, and to my companions on the in- 
side, than to the particular ox which was just then the 
object of my ire. Some of these cattle w^ere easy to 
yoke. We had to lasso others of them, and draw them 
up to a post. We would put a yoke on the one caught, 
and then lasso another and draw him up beside that 
one. We used the gentle ones for leaders, and would 
drive these around in front of the wild ones, and fasten 
them together by a chain, before we let them loose. 
After a long time had been spent in yoking and 
hitching up, we drove out, starting back to Manti, 
where we expected to get more cattle and more freight. 
The roads were very muddy. In the settled portion 
of Utah, there is a ditch on either side of every street 
and road, and many cross-ditches, so that water is 
running in every direction, to be used for irrigating 
and other purposes. These ditches are seldom, if ever, 
bridged, and the mud is much deeper than the water. 
Whenever we came to one of these settlements, we 
would put twelve yoke of cattle to one wagon, and 
then a number of drivers would range themselves on 
each side of the team, and whoop, and cut, and slash, 
until we got through town. All the people in the vil- 

u 



210 HOW I KNOW. 

lage would run to their doors, and stand in groups 
through the streets, watching the fun. Sometimes a 
chain would break; it was sure to break when the 
wagon was in the worst place. Then we would put 
on more cattle, sometimes we would have twenty 
yoke of cattle to one wagon; and, by this time, if it 
was in town, the whole population would be gathered 
around, looking at the team and wagon, and laughing 
and passing remarks, not the most complimentary. 
We would then try again, all hands assisting, by push- 
ing the wagon, and endeavoring to roll the wheels. 
Ever3^body not engaged in whipping the cattle or push- 
ing the wagon, would assist by shaking their hats, and 
yelling at the top of their voices; and the poor cattle 
would by this time be so terribly frightened, that, 
if a chain did not break, they were sure to run 
out with the wagon. In a scene ol this kind, the 
drivers were very apt, accidently of course, to let 
some of the bystanders feel the weight of their whips, 
which action always added not a little to the confusion 
ol the moment. I was very willing at such times to 
give up my whip, and go back in the mud and water, 
and push, for, had I tried to use the whip, no one else 
could have come near the same side of the cattle. 
Neither was I safe from a whip in my own hands. 

I remember, the second day of March, we had got 
to Parley Allred's place, in San Pete County, Utah. There 
we stuck in the mud about noon. We worked until 
twelve at night, whipping and slashing, until there 
were, I know, as many as three hundred people around, 



STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 211 

pulling and pushing, and helping us through a mud 
hole that was not over three hundred feet across. 
Here I fared roughly, for, in the early part of the after- 
noon, I had gone in among the cattle to fix a chain, 
when one of them kicked me, knocking me down in the 
mud, with which I was completely covered, and, while 
I was trying to get out, he struck me another lick, 
knocking me back against the off -pointer. He was 
an ugly brute. He made a pass at me with his long 
horns, but I was so close to him that he only struck 
me with the side of them. He knocked me clean out 
of time, however. I landed, not as one usually sits 
down, but on the flat of my back in the mud. Then 
and there I swore vengeance upon that ox. To find 
myself crawling out of the mud in this pitiable plight, 
looking more like a hog that had just been wallowing 
in the mire than the well-dressed city lad I had been 
but a few days before, was more than human nature 
could endure. I rebelled. If I could have had my 
money back that I had already invested, I would 
have given up the freighting business on the spot, and 
would never have tried to drive another ox. But I 
was like other men often have been, and will continue 
to be; I had got my foot into the mud, and must either 
push through or stick fast. 

We got back to Manti on the night of the fifth of 
March. The roads had been muddy all the way. 
Here we remained for two days, buying up more cattle, 
to fill out our teams. We also filled out our loads, 
making ten thousand pounds of freight to the team. 



212 HOW I KNOW. 

On the morning of the eighth, we had everything in 
readiness, including beds, clothing, guns, provisions for 
two months, and a cooking outfit. The roads were 
heavy, and we made but a short drive the first day. 

We were now on the road for San Juan, Colorado. 
We intended to follow the old road that Captain Gunni- 
son took his soldiers over in 1855. It had never been 
traveled over since. It will be my endeavor to describe 
the route, as I go along, the best I can. I think that I 
have had a better opportunity to view that section of 
country than any white man that ever was there 
before me. 

Our train was arranged as follows: William John- 
son Black, of Manti, drove the lead team. I was 
second. George B. Kelly, of Salt Lake City, next; 
William Stringan, of Manti, fourth; Albert Stevens, of 
Salt Lake City, next; Charley Manser, next; Neals 
Mortison, of Salina, Utah, next; and one of the young 
Taylors, of Utah, last. Each one had his regular duty 
assigned to him. Charley Manser did the cooking. I 
attended to the cattle when unyoked; saw that they 
got water, and were put on feed for the night, when I 
could find any. Then Dave Mortison took them ofi* of 
my hands, and herded them until morning. Dave 
herded at night, and slept in the day-time in one of the 
wagons. In the morning I would saddle the horse I used, 
and go and help to round up the cattle, and drive them 
to camp, preparatory to yoking. The others attended 
to getting wood, water, greasing wagons, and other 
things that were necessary. Mr. Hess was the " boss," 



STOCK- BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 



213 



or had charge of the outfit, and as he had been over 
the road, or part of it at least, he was supposed to 
know more about it than the balance of us. I had 
never been east of Salina through the country, and it 
was all new to me. 

The first night we camped at Six Mile Creek, and 
the next on the bend of the Sevier River, Wasatch 
Mountains. The third night we reached SaHna; this 
is the last settle- 
ment we will pass 
through in Utah. ^^^B 
Salina is a small 
place, only a few 
Mormon famihes 
living there. There 
were at one time 
nearly one hundred 
families there, but 
they were fright- 
ened away, or killed 
by the Indians. Sa- 
lina is in a very 

nice location, at tne sevier river, wasatch mountains. 
foot of the Wasatch range. On the south is an elbow 
of the range, that shuts off all view from tow^n in 
that direction; on the east is the main range; while, 
about one-half mile to the west of town, is the Sevier 
River, which runs into Sevier Lake, and then dis- 
appears. 

Salina Creek runs through the town in irrigating 




214 HOW I KNOW. 

ditches. We found a great many of the houses de- 
serted, and falling down. There was an old stone 
fort near the center of town, at this time used for a 
corral. There is a post-office and one small co-oper- 
ative store. The houses are well made of adobes, 
with dirt roofs. The place presents a gloomy and 
dismal appearance. The land all around this place is 
sandy, and better adapted to raising potatoes than 
anything else. Children do well here, I suppose, for 
they are very numerous. 

From this place we go into Salina Canon, and 
follow it to its head, which is the summit of the Wa- 
satch range, for we are -now wanting to get to Castle 
Valley. Six miles before we get to the summit, the 
canon widens out and rolls gradually away on each 
side, for two miles or more, thus forming a small 
valley. In front the range becomes more steep. We 
find a small stream of water running through this park, 
and a small cabin built of quaking asps. This is used 
as ^ shelter and camping-house, by Mr. Jennings' herd- 
ers. Mr. Jennings, of Salt Lake City, has taken up and 
located land here, and has had others to locate lands 
for him, until he claims here a large stock ranch. He 
has hundreds of cattle here running wild, including all 
ages from sucking calves to old, full-grown animals, 
and they are scattered all over the country. We found 
two young men here herding for Mr. Jennings. 

Here we came to snow, the first we had seen on 
the way. It was six miles to the top of the range, and 
about the same distance down the other side out of 



STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 



215 



the snow. The ground was very muddy underneath, 
where it was not rocky. In some places the snow was 
fifteen feet deep. We had to shovel a road through 
the snow. Our hands got wet and soft, and blistered 
all over the palms. We were compelled to wade 
through snow and mud all day long. None of us 
expected such obstructions on the way. It was a 
terrible undertaking to work our way over. We took 




herders' camping house. 



up one wagon at a time, and the rest of the party, not 
needed in keeping the wagons up, were continually 
shoveling snow. Our faces were all burned to a 
blister, and our eyes presented a frightful appearance. 
There was but little feed for our cattle, as the herded 
droves had consumed all there was in that region. We 
kept teams hauling hay from the settlements by con- 
tract, until we passed the summit. Mr. Jennings had a 
large corral in the park, to which we drove our cattle 



216 HOW I KNOW. 

after the day's work was done, and fed them upon 
the hay. In this way, for five long, hard weeks, we 
labored to reach the summit. Then commenced 
another task of getting down, for the snow was as 
deep on one side as on the other. But, on the west 
side, the mountain was very steep. We rough-locked 
all the wheels, then cut pine trees, and chained them 
by the top to the hind end of the wagon. We used a 
single yoke of heavy-wheel oxen to guide and keep 
the tongue straight in the road. 

Allow just a word of advice to any who may be 
contemplating traveling over that road. Go on horse- 
back. Take pack animals and plenty of provisions, 
and not too much baggage. You will not go far 
before you find baggage a great nuisance, and wish 
you were rid of it. Take but few dishes in your 
cooking outfit, as they are a nuisance. You will soon 
learn that the fewer dishes you have, the fewer you 
will need to wash, and, if they are no women in the 
party, you will find dish-washing a burden. It is im- 
possible to keep warm in camp, on the summit of the 
Wasatch in March. The wind is continuall}^ blowing, 
and the snow flying and drifting, so that you can 
not see, and can scarcely stand. 

Around our meals we would console ourselves with 
the thought that we must expect the bitter with the 
sweet. But before we get through with shoveling 
snow, pushing wagons, thrashing cattle, and climbing 
up and down that mountain, we concluded that we 
were getting far more than our share of the bitter. 



STOCK-BROKER AND FREIGHTER. 



217 



The clouds had hung low and black nearly all the time 
we had been crossing the range. Enough snow kept 
falHng to make matters still more uncomfortable. We 
were six weeks making thirteen miles, and we worked 
every day, Sunday not excepted. This was less than 
one-third of a mile a day. Our cattle were nearly starved. 




SHOSHONEE INDIANS IN THE SEVIER VALLEY. 

They were fat when we started, and already they were 
reduced to skeletons. Complimentary remarks would 
often be passed about the thinnest ones, such as propos, 
als to tie knots in their tails, to keep them from running 
through the bows of the yoke. From Gilson's ranch 



218 HOW I KNOW. 

it was difficult to realize that we were in a straight 
line, only twenty miles from Salina. But such was 
the case. After passing over the summit and coming 
to Gilson's, we saw rolling country ahead of us, as far 
as the eye could reach. Upon inquiry, I learned that 
we would not go on in that direction, however, but 
would turn to the left as soon as we reached the valley 
still lower down. There was little snow here, conse- 
quently the cattle got plenty to eat. Here was a 
splendid stream of water also. We moved on down 
the canon to Ivy Creek, and were then sixty-seven 
miles from Manti. The country is very dreary, and is 
uninhabited, except by stragghng bands of half-starved 
Shoshonee Indians. It is very seldom that a white 
man visits this section. In the following chapter I will 
speak further of our experiences on this journey. 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 219 



CHAPTER XVII. 

IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 

WE reached Green River the eighth day of May, 
having been exactly two months on the road. 
We had now passed through Castle Valley, so named 
from the numerous castle rocks that can be seen in all 
directions. Hundreds of rocks can be seen rearing 
their heads in dome-like or spiral shape, high above 
the mountains that encompass the valley. There is 
no one living in this valley. Not a house is to 
be seen for one hundred and fifty miles west of Green 
River. White men are seldom seen here. There were 
two brothers, white men, living on Grand River, of 
whom I will speak again later. They were killed while 
we were on Green River. With their exception, we 
were the only white men in this part of the country. 
There are a great many little streams running across 
Castle Valley into Green River. Ivies Creek has clear, 
good water. The next is Salaratus Creek, seven miles 
from Ivies Creek. The water in this is not fit for man 
or beast to drink; it is so strong of alkali. The next 
is Convulsion Creek, eight miles further up. This is a 
dangerous stream, narrow, with high banks. The 
water runs with a very swift current. 

The next stream is the Quickapaw, two miles 
further on. This water, like that of Convulsion Creek, 



220 HOW I KNOW. 

is not good. The next is the Muddy, a very dangerous 
stream of muddy water, and where we crossed with a 
quick-sand bottom. We had to strain the sand and 
mud out of the water, and then allow it to settle before 
we could drink it. This is brackish also. From the 
Muddy to the Ferrous is nine miles. This stream is 
of clear, brackish water, between high banks. From the 
Ferrous to the Cottonwood is ten miles. From the Cot- 
tonwood to Huntington Creek is three miles. Hunt- 
ington Creek is of fresh water, and is a pretty stream, 
with high banks and gravelly bottom. We turned to 
the right at Huntington Creek, and went on past the 
Rock Wells. The first wells are eleven, and the 
second fifteen miles from Huntington Creek. From 
this point to the Green River is thirty-five miles. It is 
one hundred and sixty-four miles to the settlements. 

Castle Valley includes an area of several thousand 
acres, but it is not very valuable for agricultural pur- 
poses. There is some little grass, but it is nearly all 
alkali grass. The soil is full of sand and fine gravel. 
The mountains on either side (until we get near Green 
River), are of sand and sand rock. There are large 
bowlders and fragments of sand rock scattered over 
the lower end of the valley. Hundreds of sand buttes 
are to be seen scattered about here and there. Time, 
the rains and the wind have crumbled and washed 
down their sides, until they stand up like tall pyramids, 
hundreds of feet in height. We could climb to the top 
of some of them by a very easy and safe ascent. 
Others are so perpendicular that the top cannot be 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 221 

reached without the aid of some mechanical contrivance. 
From some of these giant points of sand rock, we could 
look out over the many lower buttes standing in the valley. 
The place appeared very much as if you were standing in 
the center of the plain, overlooking an immense ruin. 

Rock Wells are well named from the place in which 
they are located. They are not wells of water fed 
from below the ground; they are merely holes in the 
naked, black rock, which is found here without dirt 
enough on a square mile of it to cover a bushel of 
potatoes. It is a large, bare plain of smooth rock, 
dipping in all directions up and down. There are 
holes in these rocks, from one foot to hundreds of feet 
in depth. It sometimes rains very hard here, and these 
holes are then filled with water. When we passed 
through, we suffered very much for want of good water. 
What we got from these holes had to be strained, and 
then boiled, before we could use it. It was full of little 
animals, from the minutest size up to as large as a man's 
thumb. After we strained the water, we had a larger 
pile of these than there was bulk of water. The 
cattle fared worse than we did. We watered them 
from buckets, and then turned them loose, to hunt over 
the mountains for what feed they could find growing 
out of the crevices in the rocks, which was so very 
little that they almost starved. 

Going down this mountain, we traveled for miles 
over the solid bed rock. Sometimes we would have 
all the wheels of the wagons locked. Then we would 
go for a little distance with the locks all off, and then 



222 HOW I KNOW. 

again would be compelled to double up the teams for 
a hard pull. After we got over this, we came to an 
alkali sand plain. The alkali is so thick that it looks 
like snow. This is a wretched place through which to 
travel. The sand is so loose that the wagons cut 
down to the axles all the time. The dry alkali flying 
in the air soon blinds both man and beast. We were 
white with dust. Our flesh burned and smarted with 
an itching and pain. Of all the alkali plains in the 
West, this is the worst I ever traveled over. 

When we reached Green River, we found a most 
beautiful valley. It was so different from any thing I had 
ever seen, that I pronounced it at first sight one of 
the prettiest places in the West. Beautiful grass was 
waving on the river bottoms, and the trees were all out 
in leaf and bloom. Green River Valley is narrow at the 
point where we entered it. The river runs crosswise 
of the first bench lands. The bottom lands are a half 
mile in width. On either side of the bench lands, the 
river runs through canons, with rugged, rough mount- 
ains on either side, towering up higher than the timber 
line. The canon is here separated by a valley eight 
miles in width, so that the length of Green River Valley 
is the width of Salaratus Valley, the valleys crossing 
each other. Green River Valley is ninety feet lower 
than Salaratus Valley. 

When we reached the river, it was so high we 
could not ford it. We tried a raft, but failed to get 
over in this way, as the swift, running current would 
sweep a heavy log raft into the canon below. The river 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 



223 



was eight hundred feet wide between the banks, which 
are high and undermined in many places with the 
water. They are on this account continually falling in 
here and there, making a terrible noise that can be 




■sj="ii;5 *'i}' 



CAMP IX GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 

heard a long distance. After we tried to cross by a raft 
and failed, we had to send a man on horseback back to 
Manti for a boat, and the rest of us remained to guard 



224 HOW I KNOW. 

the train and herd the cattle. I passed away part of 
the time in hunting up and down the river. We had 
a beautiful place for our camp. This was the first 
perfect camping place we had found. There were 
beautiful groves of large cotton-wood trees along the 
river bottom, furnishing plenty of wood for fires; no 
mud, some sand, abundance of grass for our cattle, 
and plenty of fish and game. This abundance of good 
things was enough to repay us for much of the hard- 
ship thus far encountered. There were some in the 
party who seemed to have no idea of the beautiful. 
They might travel all over the country, and see all its 
beauties, and after all would pick out a well-filled cup- 
board as the prettiest sight they ever met with. They 
never could understand how anything was to be gained 
by such a journey as this, though through such grand and 
beautiful scenery. Their idea of traveling would be to 
follow the valley roads, and feast with their Mormon 
brothers over night. 

We had all started out with bright anticipations of a 
two months' trip. We had now been over two months 
out, and were not yet across the first river, and there 
were several wide rivers yet to cross. But there we were, 
and I determined to get all the enjoyment possible out 
of this journey. I was very thankful to be out of the 
cold and chilly storms of the Wasatch. ' The skies 
were blue, and the days were as warm as in summer. 

After having rested a day or two, I concluded to 
go up the river to the canon, about five miles distant. 
So taking my gun, I started early in the morning. 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 



225 



Near the river were patches of brush, so thick that it 
was impossible to pass through. In addition to the brush 
were numerous 
sloughs full of water, 
some of them deep. 
These sloughs were 
covered with ducks 
and geese, which 
would fly f r o m 
one side to the other 
as I approached near 
them. I saw deer 
and antelope feeding 
in large numbers. 
They would bound 
away upon my ap- 
proach. I went back 
f a r t h e r from the 
river, and got upon 
higher ground, out 
of the brush. There 
I found the ground 
cut up with deep gul- 
lies. After traveling 
a number of miles, 
I came to the mouth 
of the canon. I found 
it narrow with steep night scene in green river canon. 
and rugged mountains on either side of the river, which is 
very narrow, and runs with a much swifter current here. 

15 




226 HOW I KNOW. 

I concluded, as it was yet early, to climb to the top 
of the mountain, and take a view of the surrounding 
country. I found this a difficult undertaking. I would 
cHmb awhile, and then rest. I could look back and see 
the river twisting along in its course to the canon below, 
there to be lost sight of in another range ol mountains, 
separate from the one I was then climbing. This is an 
uninhabited region, and has never been marred by the 
hand of civiHzation. The members of our party are 
the only white men on the river. Flowers of the 
richest hues, and ol endless variety adorned as with a 
robe of beauty the extended valley below, while the 
distant green groves, dotting the banks of the river 
here and there before me, appeared like emerald isles 
floating in a sea of glory. I could but gaze with rapture 
upon the magnificent scenes, the beauties and sublim- 
ities of nature as they lay unrolled before me. I was 
far above the valleys on either side of the river, and 
could see far out in the direction we desired to go. 

I kept climbing higher and higher until I wondered 
if I would ever reach the top. I would sometimes 
come up plump against the steep sides of a ledge. 
Then I would have to meander up and down, and 
around, to get to the top of that, and there, most likely, 
come up against another one. I saw numbers of 
mountain sheep, and shot one of them. These sheep 
are as noble-looking and as pretty a wild animal as I 
ever saw. They are harmless. I have been told that 
they will jump off of precipices, and strike on their 
heads, on the rocks below, and then go bounding off 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 227 

from danger. This may be true, but I never saw them 
going through such any unpleasant performances. The 
sheep are natives of rocky places, so I think this 
locality exactly suited to them. Their horns are at the 
largest part six inches in diameter, are tapering and 
curved, and from ten to fifteen inches in length. 

I found the mountain barren of vegetation, and w^ith 
many deep wash-outs. The canon was very deep and 
narrow, as far as I could see. When I returned to 
camp I carried with me a quarter of the sheep I had 
killed. I was tired and hungry when I got into camp, 
but plenty of fish, bread and venison had been pre- 
pared in good style, and I was soon seated on the front 
end of the wagon, feasting as sumptuously as a king. 

Beaver and otter are very numerous at this place. 
Dozens of them could be seen in the evening carrying 
sticks to form their houses or dams, or swimming in 
the water, or climbing up the steep banks. All along 
the river where there are little groves of trees, the 
marks of their cuttings can be seen. Trees over one 
foot across have been cut down with their teeth. I have 
seen as many as three, all cutting on the same tree. 
They are very cautious and cunning. The least noise 
will drive them to the water, to be seen no more for 
hours. They have their trails from the water to their 
cuttings. Their slides in places are worn down several 
feet in depth, on the edge of steep banks. When the 
beaver travels on land, his trowel-shaped tail is so 
heavy that it drags the ground, like a board dragged 
along by one end. When swimming along in the water, 



228 HOW I KNOW. 

the least motion or noise will cause them to dive sud- 
denly, striking the water at the same time with their 
flat tails, making a noise similar to striking on the water 
with a long paddle. At night they keep up a noise the 
whole time, fighting, squealing and slapping the water 
with their tails. They are sixty pounds and upward in 
weight. They are easily trapped, if the trapper under- 
stands his business, but unless he does know how to go 
about it he will not catch any except by accident. It is 
interesting and amusing to watch three or four beavers 
cutting down a tree. They sit down, and twist their 
heads a little sidewise, and then with their broad, chisel- 
like teeth, they cut deep into the wood at every bite. 
They cut round and round, equally on all sides. In 
many places in the West, beavers are very numerous, 
but a great many are caught every season. Their 
houses are generally formed by burrowing in under 
the deep banks, and then filling up in front with huge 
piles of weeds, mud and sticks. 

Here, on Green River, is the worst place for snakes I 
know of. I did not see them corded up in piles, as 
large as some people write about, and scores of feet in 
length, but for numbers and varieties this locality can 
not be surpassed. Often when one is not thinking of 
them, they frighten him terribly by crawling up 
against him. I am not afraid of a snake, but then I do 
not like to be social with them. 

The snakes live in colonies on Green River. I have 
seen them crawling in every direction at the same time. 
Some of them are very large, as much as seven feet 



IN GREEN RIVER VALLET. 229 

long. Rattlesnakes are numerous, and of all sizes, 
from tiny ones up to three and one-half feet in length. 
Some of these have lived to a good old age. I killed 
one three feet long, that had twenty-two rattles, 
and a button on the end of his tail, so that if I am 
informed correctly, he was twenty-three years of age. 
It is said that a rattlesnake has a button on the end of 
his tail the first year, and for every succeeding year 
a rattle. I think this is correct. 

When we would start out to look after the cattle, 
we would cut a good, heavy club before we went far, 
with which to kill snakes. I remember that one morn- 
ing I was out looking up the cattle. I had a desire to 
climb to the top of one of the rocky buttes, I had 
not gone far up the hill-side when I could see snakes 
lying coiled up, or stretched out in every shape, sun- 
ning themselves on and among the rocks. I think 
these were all rattlesnakes. I had not yet come 
close enough to arouse them, for I saw them before 
they began to rattle. I counted over twenty, without 
moving from where I stood. I moved on toward 
them, keeping a careful watch at my feet. They were 
soon aroused, and, coihng themselves up, there was 
immediately a great rattling along the lines on both 
sides of me. Their eyes were glittering, and their 
forked tongues protruding, and every one warning me 
that I was then trespassing on forbidden ground. They 
seemed to be more numerous on this slope than I had 
ever before seen in any mountain country. In Rattlesnake 
Gulch, California, there are thousands of them, but this 



230 



HOiV 1 KNOW. 



Green River slope leads in snakes. I retreated and left 
them in possession of their stronghold. This was but a 
small, rocky knoll or knob, rising about two hundred 
feet above the plain, and covering perhaps, two acres. 
There must be thousands of snakes there. On the 

river bottom, a 
long, yellow-spotted 
snake is found in 
great numbers. This 
species can run like 
a racer. These are 
called bull-snakes, I 
believe. 

At another time 
I had occasion to go 
to the top of one of 
the peaks ; for, if 
cattle are not in 
sight while you are 
standing on the plain, 
they may often be 
seen from some ele- 
vation, feeding in the 
distance. I was sit- 

PEAK IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. ting OU OUC Of theSC 

high points one morning, early. From this position 
I could look to the east, and at the foot of the 
butte running east, was a deep depression. The 
butte had been rather difficult to climb, and I was 
halting a little to rest my lungs, as a person finds 




IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY. 231 

some difficulty in breathing, when climbing one of these 
high peaks here in the mountains. This, however, was 
a high peak in the valley between the mountains. I 
could hear the distant howl of wolves in various direc- 
tions. I noticed that they seemed to get nearer, and 
more numerous. They soon were howling all around 
me. I wondered what was up. Soon a number of 
them came in sight. I now saw what was the matter. 
They had started a deer, and were chasing it down. It 
was out-running the wolves, but there were too many 
closing in on all sides. They were at the far end of 
the basin from me, but I could see the chase very 
plain. The wolves took turns, running and heading off 
the deer, until they finally succeeded in capturing it, 
when they became so eager after the poor thing's car- 
cass, that I could hear their teeth snapping together 
two hundred yards away. There were twenty wolves 
taking part in the feast. 

JWhen a hunter, wounds a deer, and, darkness coming 
on stops the chase for the night, should it be renewed 
next morning, he will often find where the deer has 
been caught and devoured by wolves. They can scent 
blood or fresh meat a long distance away. When 
chasing game, their howling is very different from that 
at other times, and is of such a nature that they 
apparently all understand what is going on, for they 
seem to come running together immediately, and to 
form themselves into a circle. Once, later, when I was 
in the Dolores country of Colorado, I remember seeing 
them chasing a jack-rabbit. They would take turns 



232 HOW I KNOW. 

running. A single wolf would not run far at any one 
time before he would be relieved by a fresh animal. 
And so among all these varied scenes, and amid 
the varied scenery, each successive day brought with it 
some novelty, and such scenes and incidents as kept 
up an unabating and lively interest in the minds of our 
party, until the boat arrived from Manti, which was not 
until the eleventh day of June. 



VEX A TIO US DEL A TS. 233 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

VEXATIOUS DELAYS. 

THE boat having arrived, we began to unload, and 
to take the wagons to pieces. The boat was 
small, only three and one-half feet in width by fourteen 
feet in length. It was flat-bottomed, built of three- 
quarter inch pine lumber. With close packing it would 
carry twelve hundred pounds. Everything had to be 
adjusted very carefully, or else the boat would list 
to the heavy side and become unmanageable. We got 
along very well, however, carrying over two wagons 
and their loads in a day. We left the cattle until the 
last. We undertook to make them swim over by tying 
a rope around the horns of one of them, and attaching 
the other end of the rope to the boat, and thus towing 
him over. One of us would row the boat, while the 
rest would drive the other cattle into the water, and 
then whoop and halloo until our throats were sore, 
and throw clods and sticks and stones at them, trying 
to make them follow across. The cattle would go well 
enough until they struck the main current; then they 
would begin to " mill," the current carrying them down 
stream all the time, until they would finally strike back 
for the same side they had started from. The current 
would beat them back against the high banks, where 
they remained struggling in the water, scattered nearly 
all the way down to the canon. Then we would have 



234 HOW I KNO W, ' 

to go to work and dig down the banks, so that they 
could get out. 

In this way we kept on trying, never getting over 
more than six at any one time, and often only the one 
that was towed over. We were two days getting all 
the cattle over. Some of them, while being towed, 
would dive apparently straight down, and come up 
almost under the boat. Towing the cattle across the 
stream was a dangerous undertaking, for the little 
boat was too light to hold them, and they could nearly 
master the oarsman. I got out of patience, and tried 
to ride some of them over; but all to no purpose. My 
uncle and my other companions kept advising me to 
be patient. Patience is a very good thing, and all well 
enough; but how any man can have patience for many 
days while trying, as we were, to swim cattle over 
Green River, with, the mosquitoes eating him up all the 
time, is more than I can tell. 

We had everything safely over by the 23d of June. 
We were very busy all that day fixing things in read- 
iness for moving on the next morning. But during 
the night a grizzly got down among the cattle where 
the herder was tending them on the river bottom, and 
frightened them off in all directions. Two yoke jumped 
into the river, and crossed back to the other side again. 
We could not see them, but could hear them on the 
opposite side of the river, splashing in the water, and 
bellowing. At this time, however, we did not know 
how many had crossed over, but we felt confident that 
these were some of our cattle. So we unloaded the 



VBXA TIO US DEL A rS. 235 

boat from the wagon, where we had it packed up to 
haul to Grand River, and carried it down to the river, 
and hunted up a lot of ropes, and some shovels. Then 
four of us struck across in the darkness for the other 
side, which we soon reached. 

We felt sure that the cattle were below where we 
landed. The banks of Green River are so undermined in 
time of high water that there is a constant caving in, and 
a consequent splashing and eddying of the water, and a 
variety of noises. This seems to be particularly the 
case when you are hunting for cattle in the darkness 
that you know are in the water and needing assistance, 
and are compelled to find them by hearing, instead of 
seeing. This was our situation at this time. I was 
keeping down close to the bank, while the other boys 
were keeping off considerable distance from the river. 
The noise of the rushing water often made me think 
there was an ox where there was none. I was Hsten- 
ing at the different sounds intently, trying to discern the 
cause of each. I told my companions, if I found the 
oxen I would sing out. We had waded through brush, 
mud, bogs and everything else disagreeable, when I 
thought I heard one of the cattle. At this point 
the bank was about six feet high, and the willows and 
brush were very thick. I doubt if they can be found as 
thick at any other point along the river. Some of these 
had drooped over until their tops were kept constantly 
in motion by the agitated waters, which here had formed 
a very deep, ugly-looking place, as I afterwards saw, and 
had run in to a considerable distance under the bank. 



236 HOW I KNOW. 

When I cautiously advanced to the edge of the stream 
to ascertain the cause of the great splashing, the whole 
bank gave way, and in I went. I did not go to the 
bottom. I began to struggle for the bank as soon as I 
struck the water, and as soon as I could get my mouth 
open began to yell for the boys. The water was car- 
rying me down all the time. I was badly frightened. 
I soon managed, however, to catch hold of a long root 
that was being dangled about through the water, and I 
hung on to this until the boys came with a rope and 
fished me out. 

The cattle were finally found, and we tied them up 
to trees, and pulled for camp. I was too mad to talk to 
any one, and I do beHeve that at that time I would not 
have re-crossed the river for the whole train. The next 
morning we got the cattle back from where we had 
tied them, and spent the day in camp. But on the 
next day when the herder brought the cattle to camp, 
there were seven of them missing. We thought, per- 
chance, they were in the bush, and had been over- 
looked; so we started out in various directions to find 
them. I struck for the high buttes, so that I could 
look back over the river. I had an idea that they had 
re-crossed and gone back. About noon I returned to 
camp, without any success. 

I found a part of the other searchers in camp, but 
no cattle. They were having a big talk over some- 
thing that William Stringan had seen. I made inquir- 
ies in regard to the matter, and in reply heard a 
rather curious story. It seemed, that, like the rest of 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 237 

US, Mr. Stringan had had poor success in finding cattle, 
but he had discovered a mysterious-looking track, which 
he had easily traced for some distance. The track of 
the right foot was in every particular like that of an 
ox's foot, with the foot stepping sideways, pointing out 
from the body, while that of the left foot was of a human 
barefoot. I listened very intently to his description oi 
the track, and of how he had followed it, until it led to 
a certain thicket which he described, when he was 
afraid to proceed further, and had come to camp. My 
curiosity was now aroused. I must see that track, for 
I had never seen anything to compare with it. So, 
as soon as dinner was over, Hess, Stringan and myself 
started in search of the track, I wondering meanwhile 
what on earth it could be. After walking a consider- 
able distance, we reached the place where Stringan 
had discovered the track, and, sure enough, there it 
was, just as he had described it. It could be seen 
plainly in the sandy soil; it led from the foot-hills at 
the base of the mountain toward the river. Hess 
and Stringan followed the track toward the river, while 
I took the back track, to see where the half cloven- 
footed "varmint" had come from. In the valley I 
could follow the track as fast as I could travel. On 
higher ground the track disappeared. In such places I 
would follow the general course I had been coming, 
and every time I found myself upon reaching the sand 
again entirely off the track. I thought this was curious; 
that a direct general course should be followed through 
the soft sand, but, as soon as the hard earth was 



238 HOW I KNOW. 

reached, that then the course should turn in an entirely 
different direction. Before I had been fooled very many 
times, I made up my mind that this was a very cunning 
animal, and once or twice I imagined that there might 
be something or some body x:onnected with the track, 
foreboding no good. I followed the track over hills 
and through hollows, and across gulches and gullies, for 
three miles or more, when I came to a place where 
it doubled on itself; then I had the two tracks to fol- 
low, one going and one coming. I followed these a 
short distance across the bench land, and into another 
deep gully, where I found a pony track, and near by 
I found where the pony had been picketed. 

This was convincing proof to me, satisfactory 
enough of what was up; yet I thought it exceedingly 
strange that one person should come here in this way, 
and appear in such a pecuHarly odd manner. The 
thought flashed through my mind that something 
unusual was going to happen, and it might be that 
there were more connected with this strange move- 
ment than one single individual. What could he want, 
who could he be, and why were his feet so disguised? 
It might be that he had confederates in league with 
him, and that they had run off a part of the cattle 
belonging to our train. Why had they not taken all ? 
I could see no tracks of the cattle here ; but they 
might have driven them in some other direction. A 
thousand questions suggested themselves to my mind. 
I finally came to the conclusion that there must be a 
band of Indians in the neighborhood, who had got part 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 239 

of our cattle, and were running them off. Of this, I 
would soon assure myself. I struck for camp after my 
horse. When I arrived at camp, it was already getting 
late in the afternoon, being after four o'clock, but the 
other boys had not returned. 

My horse was picketed close to camp. It was the 
work of a few minutes only to throw on my saddle and 
make ready, and I was soon galloping out over the bench 
land. I had made up my mind to find where the 
cattle had been driven out, if they had been driven out 
at all. So I rode to the upper end of the valley, care- 
fully noticing everything, as a man naturally would 
when looking for stock under such circumstances. I 
made a circuit of the whole upper end of the valley, 
and convinced myself that the cattle had not passed out 
on the Colorado side of the river. When I arrived in 
camp again it was dark. The company had all gathered 
in, but without finding the lost cattle. I was then con- 
vinced that the cattle had crossed the river. 

So early the next morning, I saddled my horse and 
rode down to the river. Here I dismounted, and taking 
off my clothes, I tied them and my revolver in a bun- 
dle, and secured it to the barrel of my rifle. I then 
mounted my horse again, and started into the river. 
It was a frightful undertaking, for the river was high, 
and the current swift. At this time it was nearly one- 
half mile in width. Logs, brush, drift-wood and whole 
trees were sweeping along down the current, as 
if in a race. Our whole party was at the bank to see 
me across. It seemed to me at times as if I was 



240 HOW I KNOW. 

riding on my last trip. But a horse is a noble swimmer, 
and mine faithfully carried me across one of the worst 
streams in North America. I immediately struck back 
on the road we had come. After going nearly a mile, 
I discovered the trail of the lost cattle, and, after 
riding fast, I caught up with them at the Rock Wells. 
They were all together. Here I met one of the Tay- 
lors from Utah. He was on his way to the Green 
brothers, at the old Mormon fort, near the junction of 
Green and Grand Rivers. We pushed the cattle back 
at a Hvely gait, and drove them across the river without 
much trouble. We stripped off our clothes and crossed 
the river the same way I had crossed in the morning. 
The next morning, another of the younger Taylor boys, 
who had been with the Green brothers, came into 
camp and reported the Greens killed, and their stock 
driven off. 

There were two of these brothers ; one named 
Cyrus, and the other W. T. Green. They had come 
to Utah a few years prior to this time. They had con- 
siderable money with them, which they invested in 
cattle and horses, until they had over two hundred 
head of cattle, and one hundred and forty head of 
horses. A greater portion of Utah is unsettled, and 
consequently the land is unclaimed, and belongs to 
Uncle Sam. So the boys drove their stock into the 
upper end of Castle Valley, or rather between Castle 
Valley and Fish Lake. Here they remained only a 
short time, as some other parties claimed a prior herd 
right, and notified them to that effect. 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 



241 



Now, these Green brothers, like hundreds of others 
who have come into the territory of the Saints, de- 
nounced them and their notions as wrong; and the gen- 
eral judgment of mankind likewise so denounces them. 
For the disciples of Brigham Young constantly pro- 
claim their conscientiousness in accepting the dogma 
of polygamy, and one cannot oppose them in this par- 
ticular without denying the validity of the authority 
they set up, both in 
and out of church. 
This is always the case 
with every doctrine 
that runs counter to 
the general human 
sense of right. The 
public judgment of 
what is proper, is that 
it must square with / 
the generally accepted 
ideas of truth and 
right. What the Mor- 
mons call faith has 
been pronounced ''^'''''' ^^^^'^' ^^0^^^^ prophet. 
credulity. What they dignify as a religion has been de- 
cided to be a superstition. Injustice has been done to all 
classes not beHeving in their wild and fanciful notions. 
Men have been compelled to either leave the Territory or 
to part with every earthly possession they had accumu- 
lated. And this Church works in co-operation together 

throughout the whole country. It has proved itself a 

16 




242 HOW I KNOW. 

power in the hands of dangerous men. Their leaders 
have honors paid them by all their followers, and the 
more virulence with which their character is attacked, 
the greater the esteem in which they are held among 
their own people. They have lived, however, to see 
the beginning of an exodus, which may yet involve con- 
sequences of political significance. Their career has 
been a marvelous one in its devotion to an absurd idea 
— marvelous in its extravagant notions, especially in 
reference to the doctrines of their religion. The men 
w^ho founded these iniquitious institutions are passing 
away one by one. Those who are left pause in their 
busy work to do honor to their dead prophets. They 
seldom yield to any sense of justice. They scorn any 
policy based only on just principles. They follow their 
false premises to their logical conclusions. If they 
listen at all to reason or justice, they listen only to 
, laugh or despise. The poorer classes make but little pro- 
vision for their own support. They take a liberal view 
of the promises of their prophets, and obey their so- 
called divine injunction. If they fail to obey these, 
they call down upon themselves the guilt of unpardon- 
able sin. They ponder and debate, in their weak way, 
the awful mysteries spoken by their prophets. How 
often in the course of their career must the doubt have 
come to them whether they were acting in the spirit 
of love and obedience, or in that of superstition and 
creduHty. Unrestrained in their traffic, they almost 
control all that part of the country. A tremendous 
power is concentrated in the hands of the rulers of the 



VEXATIOUS DELAYS, 



243 



Mormon Church. They wield a power that any other 
people would hesitate to exercise. It is clear that it 
will not answer, even for those who hold the right of 
private judgment in matters of religion, to allow all to 
indulge in their vagaries. Wild and untutored notions 
will soon come to possess many, and the result will be 
that superstition will grow rife, and, in the name of 
faith, deeds will be done that will shock the common 
sense and the conscience of mankind. This, indeed, has 




FORMER RESIDENCES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 

been the case time and time again in Utah. The stran- 
ger and the Saint are frequently dickering together 
and oftentimes the pretended divine leads his newly 
formed acquaintance into a lengthy argument, merely 
for the sake of betrayal before the community. Often- 
times they run across one that comprehends well what 
these demonstrations mean, far better than if he had 
been told in so many words. These much-married 



244 HOW I KNOW. 

saints generally appeal to their versions of the divine 
law. The saints, therefore, berate and oppose the 
Gentiles in their undertakings. They denounce the 
colonization of their Territory. There is, consequently, 
always a very bitter feeHng existing between the two 
parties. Such was the state of affairs in the Territory 
when the Green boys drove their cattle over into the 
bottom lands of Grand River. 

There had been a fort built there years previous to 
this time by the Mormons, who thought to colonize and 
settle up the valley. But to this the Indians were 
adverse. They attacked the Mormons in their strong- 
hold, and routed them after a severe fight in which 
several from both parties were killed. The old fort 
had stood vacant until the Greens moved into it as 
a protection against the storms, and a place where they 
could store away such goods as they had with them. 
This is a beautiful little valley, with plenty of wood and 
water, and an abundant supply of grass, where stock 
by hundreds may graze. Game, of various kinds, is here 
found in vast quantities, and the waters afford abund- 
ance of fish. If this valley were not so far from civili- 
zation, it would be one of the most desirable places in 
all the country for a few families to settle in. 

Here the Greens had been for over a 3^ear, witnessing 
the rapid increase and prosperity of their herd. Here 
they were massacred. The first that was known 
about the horrible butchering was when young Taylor 
brought back the report. He was not an eye-witness, 
but had gone to see Cyrus Green on some business. 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 



245 



He found their dog, but no person at the fort, and he 
went in search of the boys, and soon found every 
evidence of foul play. He stated that he could readily 
follow^ the trail by w^hich the stock had been' driven off, 
as numbers of them had been billed and left along- the 
route. Some had been left crippled, but were not yet 
dead. He could find no trace of the boys, but from the 
looks of everything around he was sure they were dead, 
or had been hardly 
dealt with. Who- 
ever had done the 
deed must have been 
in somewhat of a 
hurry, as nearly six- 
ty head of the cattle 
were yet left on the 
range. Their dog 
was in the fort, but 
could not be per- 
suaded or coaxed to 
leave. Everything 
about the place was 
just as the Greens george a. smith, mormon apostle. 
had arranged it. Nothing had been meddled with. 
Even one of their coats still hung on the corner of the 
the fort, just as they had left it. 

The news was carried to the settlements as soon 
as a horse could travel the distance. A large party 
was immediately organized, which made a forced 
march on horseback to the place. After considerable 




246 HOW I KNOW. 

search, they found the body of the eldest brother,, six 
or seven miles from the fort, lying near the trail in a 
a thicket of bushes, with a bullet hole in the back of 
his head. No trace of the younger brother was dis- 
covered. He had, doubtless, shared the same fate with 
his brother. 

This, then, gave us some clue to the mysterious 
tracks and maneuvers around our own camp, about the 
same time. It was a warning to us to hasten on, or 
we might meet a fate similar to the Greens. We pulled 
out for Grand River, not wishing to encounter the 
danger of following up the trail of the murderers. We 
found travel between Green and Grand Rivers almost 
unendurable. There was neither feed, wood nor water, 
and these things are most essential, especially w^here 
the stock has to hunt for a living, and the teamsters do 
their own cooking. Without these, you will have to 
go to bed in a thirsty, fireless, supperless, ill-humored, 
cheerless condition, that will utterly take the romance 
out of your journey. It makes no difference what the 
weather is, a camp without a fire is lonely and desolate. 
The country was one continual plain of sand beds and 
knolls the whole distance. Sand is by all odds worse 
to travel through than mud. I resigned myself to my 
fate, and made the best of it. As some writer has said: 

" Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of jov, 
Bright dreams of the past earth cannot destroy." , 

No sign of a habitation is to be seen in this region. 

We were now nearing Grand River, and, what 
a contrast is to be seen! And the nearer we approach. 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 247 

the more beautiful the place appears. As yet, Grand 
River, and the rare beauty and majesty of the scenery 
developed by the passage of the river through the 
great Rocky Mountain range of Colorado are but 
little known. The river is hemmed in on either side 
of the valley with mighty walls of rock, the lower parts 
of which are fringed with scattered, scrubby pine and 
cedar, which present a peculiar-looking appearance. 
But the grassy pastures of the river bottom lands are 
a thousand times better and prettier than the sterile 
plains we have been traveling over, which was certainly 
the most dreary and desolate-looking place I ever saw. 
After our wearisome journey across burning sands 
and alkali bottoms, it was with a glorious feeling of 
pleasure that we set foot in this paradise of Colorado. 
Here are objects of interest to every lover of Na- 
ture's wonders, without number on every side. For 
who is so base as not to be moved by the beautiful 
handiwork of Nature. Here a sense of enchantment 
sends the blood coursing swiftly through the veins. 
Thousands of little birds are flitting about, amid the 
berry bushes, warbling their merry notes of praise to an 
ever-bountiful Providence. The river is thickly dotted 
with ducks and geese that go swimming over its 
surface. Deer and antelope are feeding and frisking 
about, unconscious of the danger that hovers over them 
with the approach of civilization. Thousands of bears 
inhabit these regions. Wild cats and wolves scream 
and howl continually. The higher gravel knolls of the 
valley, and those near the bench land are all burrowed 



248 



HOW I KNOW. 



out by badgers. Beaver and otter arc numerous in the 
river, and the timber lands of the bottom bear evidence 
of their industrious gnawing, for they have most of the 
smaller trees either entirely cut off or badly scarred. 

Along the 
river banks 
the scene 
is a strik- 
i ng one . 
The cot- 
ton-woods 
w^ith their 
brightly- 
glistening 
leaves of 
green, and 
the endless 
& varieties of 
j^^ berries, 
peeping 
1/4 from out of 
the thick- 
ets that en- 
close us on 
every side 

"the swift dashing water." m a K e a 

robe of beauty for the hillsides. The swift, dashing 
water, rushing on in its mighty course, makes a noise 
that is audible for three miles. On either side of the 
canon are numberless caverns, holes, cracks and crev- 




VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 249 

f 

ices, which are safe and snug retreats for all such 
insects and animals as make these places their retreat. 
But what we appreciated just now the most was the 
berries. We all set to eating these, and as might have 
been expected, some ate so many that they made them- 
selves sick. 

Here, as in many other places in the West, ruins of 
ancient cities are found. When viewing these, one 
cannot help wondering what w^ere the history and for- 
tunes, the virtues and vices of the long since departed 
inhabitants of these places; those who at some remote 
time have here passed their day, and acted their brief 
part in the great drama of the life of the human race, 
whose unknown dust now mingles with the virgin soil. 
They have long since passed away; but the same hills, 
knolls and ridges still stand; the same river flows along 
through the same channel; the same skies look down 
upon this green valley, now uninhabited by white men. 
From the abundance of game that abounds here, 
and all the beautiful objects of Nature that break upon 
the view, we associate all that is poetic, romantic and 
heroic with the history of this bygone people, that once 
lived between these mighty hills and on the shores of 
this swift and beautiful river. All these lofty mountains, 
these beautiful streams of snow water, that have grown 
into mighty rivers; all those rough, craggy clifls that 
continue to crumble, wash, and topple over, to form 
mighty slides of broken rock, these all remain as objects 
sacred to the memory of the past. Who is there that 
can tell of the deeds, mighty and valorous, that have 



250 HOW I KNOW. 

been here performed? No one can do this. Nothing is 
left to record the history of this once powerful race, but 
desolated ruins and thousands of tons of broken earthen- 
ware. A mighty race has become extinct. No doubt, 
they loved their wild home, and were as happy and 
prosperous among themselves, at that remote day, as 
are the present inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley. 
For the love of country does not always keep pace 
with the country's growth, but often diminishes when 
not urgently aroused. For this reason, those who are 
constantly warring against other nations, keep alive a 
patriotic sentiment which links each individual more 
closely to home and friends, which they are ready to 
defend, even with their lives. The nature of man seems 
adapted to this. In all his wanderings, there is no place 
like home, no country like his own native land. It may 
be barren and rugged, swept by storms or earthquakes, 
or overshadowed by frozen hills, or poor in resources, 
where Hfe is but one continued struggle for existence, 
with a sickly, sultry, or inhospitable climate, unpropitious 
seasons, and an unwiUing soil. But it is his birthplace; it 
is where he roamed in his infantile rambles; it is his 
fatherland, and, sooner than he w^ill see its name dishon- 
ored, or its soil invaded, he will shed his blood in its 
defense. And I have every reason to suppose that the 
inhabitants of wild, mountainous regions, and of sterile 
plains, manifest as strong a love of home and country, 
as any people in the world. With them, like our- 
selves, whatever deprives of liberty, trenches upon our 
power. 



VEXATIOUS DEL ATS. 



251 



But here we are, where there are no other white 
people nearer than the settlements of Utah, two hundred 
and fifty miles behind. And we have been, since the 8th 
of March, coming this distance — and this is the 21st 
day of July. So that it will be seen that we have not 
made an average of two miles a day since we started. 
I have not seen a woman, either white or Indian, since 




LONELY — THREE THOUSAND MILES FROM HOME. 

I left the settlements, over four months ago. I have 
been once before, for a much longer period of time than 
this, without seeing women; but if the Lord spares me 
to outlive this miserable trip, never again will I spoil all 
peace, comfort and happiness, merely for the sake of 
gratifying an idle curiosity and small gain. I love 
scenery as well as any mortal on earth; but to gain a 



252 HOW I KNOW. 

knowledge of this place is to sacrifice all earthly enjoy- 
ment, and to run a risk of falling a victim to the dusky 
warriors, who claim possession of an enormous tract of 
country of which this is a part. I find that the Indians 
are all dangerous, when permitted any liberty by the 
whites; consequently, they require to be kept within 
careful bounds. They will often abuse you, and that 
without provocation, other than trespassing by traveling 
across their country. 

Yet variety and novelty are usually pleasing. Our 
natures demand something, once in awhile, to break 
the monotony of our every-day existence, for we find 
but little amusement in working hard every day, over 
the work-bench of life. Oftentimes we get disgusted 
with our daily routine of business; then Nature stretches 
out her ready hand and bids us come and behold her 
beauties, and forget our cares and anxieties as we feast 
upon her charms. I know that all men are eager to 
see new things, and are greedy of gain. The great gold 
excitement of Cahfornia, in 1849, or, the White Pine 
excitement in Nevada, a little later, or, a little later still, 
the Black Hills' excitement, or, at the present writing, 
the Leadville excitement, are all good illustrations. 
People go wild to get there, and two-thirds that reach 
there go wild to get away. 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 253 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 

THE climate of Colorado has proved a great bless- 
ing to persons of weak constitutions. Many who 
have gone into the State confirmed invalids, have soon 
grown strong. The shattered system becomes restored 
again to early strength and vigor, and the pale and 
sallow cheek soon assumes a bright and healthy glow. 

It is not that here there is as much or more to eat, 
than can be found in other places; but, then, even on 
such a trip as we are now making, we have good living 
for those roughing the wilds. We have plenty of flour, 
meat, both salt and fresh, all the fresh fish we want, 
and berries for the picking. These may not, always be 
served in the most pretentious style, but then the reader 
understands that we have not all the modern conven- 
iences at command. Remember, also, that neither among 
our cooks nor boarders are there any of the fair sex, 
and our white neighbors being a Httle remote, we sel- 
dom invite any of them to sit down with us. 

We have no persons to dinner but those who are 
privileged, always welcomed, and generally wanted. 
We are here free from the necessity of paying visits. 
In these parts, the natives follow the usual custom of 
society and make the first call, but, unfortunately, this 
is generally done in a very rude and noisy manner, one 
not altogether sanctioned by the better usages of society. 



254 



HOW I KNOW. 



But, then, what Lord Chesterfield says, is here to 
the purpose: "The nature of things," he remarks, "is 
always and everywhere the same; but the modes of 
them vary, more or less, in every country." It may 
be said that man derives knowledge from travel. I 
grant that he does; but that the knowledge obtained 
from travel over deserts of sand and alkali, yelling one's 
self hoarse, in driving stubborn cattle, is better than 

the knowledge that 
would naturally be 
gained from a resi- 
dence in a polite, so- 
cial community, is 
hardly reasonable to 
suppose. No ra- 
tional-minded man 
loves entire solitude; 
neither do six or 
eight individuals en- 
joy staying out by 
themselves on these 
lonely plains, for a 
whole year at a time. Place a man in such solitude, 
and, although he may have all the books of the world 
at his command, in a few years time, the world will 
have marched on, and left him far in the rear. 

I speak from two years' experience, when six of us 
had no companions, except ourselves, and the insects 
and brutes of the field. We had plenty to eat. We 
worked nearly every day on the Webster Mine, when 




OH, SOLITUDE, WHERE ARE THY CHARMS. 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 255 

it was first located, for nearly the whole two years. 
Some of the boys went to Salt Lake City after provis- 
ions ; but I staid out the whole time, and kept up my 
part of the work. These were the longest two years 
of my life. I often look back to those days when I 
was wishing to be a rich man, so that I would not 
have to stay and toil my life away in solitude. But, as 
Mr. Haven remarks, " The man who has no higher 
principle than a regard for the opinions of others, is 
not likely to accomplish anything great or noble." 
He further says, that "the true theater for virtue is 
conscience. There is none greater. The praise of 
man confers no solid happiness, unless it is felt to 
be deserved ; and if it be so, that very conscious- 
ness is sufficient." 

This, therefore, is the best country in which to 
find men out, in regard to manliness and integrity, 
and also perseverance and energy. There is none 
better. We find this a splendid opportunity for the 
study of human nature, both of others and of ourselves. 
A man, here, soon shows just what he is. If he is dis- 
posed to evil, it is soon apparent. If he is a moral 
man, he shows it. If rough, noisy, and uncouth in 
manners, it is soon discovered. If industrious, he finds 
plenty to do, and does it. If lazy, he walks around 
camp, and watches his comrades carry the wood and 
water, build fires, and prepare something to eat. But 
" dead beats " are very common everywhere, and are 
easily recognized. 

Of all the nuisances that the world is afflicted with, 



256 HOW I KNOW. 

the big, stout, lazy individual is the worst. He 
is worthless to himself, and a detriment and an 
ao^o-ravation to all those around him. There is no 
occasion for a man to be large and stout, unless it is 
that he may work. I esteem highly all that endeavor 
to do anything. Go to work with a will, and, if you do 
not succeed in doing much, do a little. Show a will- 
ingness to try, and I will insure you sympathizing 
friends, providing your pursuits are legitimate. If we 
get into adverse circumstances, we cannot do better 
than to study contentment. There is nothing to be 
« gained by brooding and lamenting over the past, for 
time lost is gone forever. But with the full power of 
our strength and willingness of mind, we can use dili- 
gence and exercise patience, for these virtues offer a 
relief that the sluggard never gains. Let us try to 
elevate those around us. It is as easy to say a good 
word for a neighbor as to be eternally raiHng at and 
abusing him. An evil word does no good. 

Give me the man that has a good word of cheer to 
all. How pleasantly time speeds along while in his 
company. Such an one does not live for himself alone, 
but for the good of the world. Such as these extend 
to their friends a cordial welcome. They have not 
learned to despise the world nor to hate the human race, 
and are never cut off from the society of their fellow- 
man. Aught of evil to mortal man, I cherish not; but 
fain would bless every living creature, and make happy 
all this wretched, suffering world. If we have any- 
thing to do, let us pluck up courage and do it, or we 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 257 

can rest assured that it will never be done. It costs 
labor on our part if we win anything, but when once 
won, it will appear to us the more glorious. Nor need 
any man fear the imputation of cowardice if he curbs his 
anger at direct abuse of himself "A soft answer turn- 
eth away wrath." The approval of the company will 
alwa3'S go with the man who keeps his temper, for not 
oiily does society feel that to vent wrath is a breach 
of its laws, but it knows that to conquer one's self is a 
far more difficult task than to overcome an enemy, and 
that, therefore, the man who keeps his temper is really 
strong, and truly courageous. Some people are fooHsh 
enough to think that everything depends on birth. 
What does it matter, for, if a man is fit for good soci- 
ety, it can make very Httle difference whether his 
father was a miner or chancellor, at least it should not 
with sensible people. 

But wealth without breeding, generally draws the 
attention of others to the want of taste in its pos- 
sessor, and gives envy an object to sneer at. I cannot 
think that rank is necessarily a recommendation to a 
man. For look around you. Not every officer of 
trust is by any means a gentleman. 

Another feature of western life is the immense 
amount of tobacco used. I am a smoker myself, and 
in solitude with my pipe, I contemplate many things 
that will never be in print. The mind of the smoker 
is contemplative, rather than active. I know full well 
that I have now got my pen started on the subject, 
and will have to pen my way out. I will not take up 



258 HOW I KNOW. 

the question in its medical aspects, and speak of the 
destroying qualities of the weed. I do believe, that 
used in moderation it diminishes the violence of the 
passions, more particularly, of the temper. But what 
is moderate and what is not, must be determined in 
each individual case. I believe that the use of tobacco 
induces a habit of calm reflectiveness. It is the solace 
of the weary laborer, the support of the ill-fed, the 
refresher of over-wrought brains, the soother of an- 
gered feelings, the boast of the exquisite, the pastime 
of the idle, the companion of the philosopher. 

The ladies claim and protest that it is the dirtiest 
and most unsociable habit a man can indulge in. Some 
of the fair ones say they love the smell of tobacco, 
while others declare that they will never marry one 
who uses it, which by the way, they in the end gener- 
ally do, however. Tobacco has won a fame over a 
wider feld, and among better men, than Noah's grape 
has ever done. I think that smoking has conduced to 
make the society of men, when freed from the whole- 
some restraints of female companions, less riotous, less 
quarrelsome, and less vicious than what it would be, 
were they to have nothing with which to drown dull 
care. In this way the idle man can pass hours away, 
which he would not have given to work, but, perhaps, 
to deviltry. With this solace he is no longer restless 
and impatient for excitement of some kind. 

But it is no wonder that the ladies hate the habit. 
For the pipe is the worst rival a woman can have, 
and it is one whose eyes she cannot scratch out ; one 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 259 

which improves with age as she herself decHnes; which 
is silent, yet a companion which costs little, and gives 
much pleasure. One can smoke, if he will, without 
making himself disgusting to his lady friends, or run- 
ning them from their drawing-rooms. I do not think 
a gentleman would offer to smoke where the company 
was mixed, unless it were a cigar, and that with the 
consent of all present. But here in the West there are 
very fe\v but what smoke, and many do worse, for they 
drink up all the money they make. 

Again, one misses all entertainments of social life 
by being in such a place as we are now in. There are 
neither churches, Sunday-schools, theaters, balls, nor 
anything of that character, either good, bad, or indiffer- 
ent. We are the sole inhabitants of the valley, at this 
present time. I, for one, am not at all satisfied here, 
nor would I be should Uncle Sam give me a clear title 
to this whole valley, if it were on the condition that I 
should spend the remainder of my days here. I do not 
want to be so rich, if it shall deprive me of all society in 
order to obtain such vast possessions. This valley will, 
of course, be settled up some day, but at the present 
time no white man lives near. The entire valley is in 
possession of the Ute Indians. 

Take a person and put him in the most beautiful 
place on our continent, and doom to a solitary life, and 
you surround him with misery, to be continually tor- 
mented by a longing for companions. To live in such 
isolation is to sacrifice all self-esteem. Aristotle says, 
" Emulation is a good thing, and belongs to good men; 



260 



HOW I KNOW. 



envy is a bad thing, and belongs to bad men, and what 
a man is emulous of he strives to attain, that he may 







SCALP-DANCE OF THE UTE INDIANS. 



really possess the desired object^ the envious are satis- 
fied if nobody has it." 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 261 

Money making is the great consideration of all our 
scheming. Money enables persons to secure and pay 
for homes, which they cannot otherwise obtain. As a 
matter of course people generally congregate where 
the greatest inducements are held out. This has been 
well illustrated in the mining industries of the West. 
These began to develop with the discovery of the 
precious metals, and increased with a rapidity rarely 
witnessed in any country. These mining enterprises 
have proven highly remunerative in many instances, 
and through various channels of business, in addition to 
mining. All branches of industry, in fact, have profited 
enormously through mining. The farmer, the mer- 
chant, the machinist, the mechanic, and the laborer in 
every department, both East and West. 

Mining is dependent largely upon the transportation 
of various kinds of stuff. With some of this our wagons 
are loaded at present, for the benefit of the miners at 
Ouray. Everything has moved so slowly, and gone so 
contrary to all expectations, that of patience and perse- 
verance I have but little left. I thought when we left 
Manti that we would see Ouray inside of sixty days, at 
most. But now I have but little better idea of where 
Ouray is than one of the " Kanackers " of Central Amer- 
ica. Some one has said that when a man is in the 
right path he must persevere. I am free to confess 
that I am thoroughly tired of persevering on this trip, 
and I feel that the sooner I can get rid of this outfit 
the better. I will sell out for half price. For I now 
feel that I have been duped, and that too, by those 



262 HOW I KNOW. 

whom I thought were my friends. I know that many 
persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and 
borrow trouble, and become despondent. It may be 
that they cannot help doing so. But it is wrong. I 
think a person ought to set his stakes as to what he 
intends doing, and run for them, leaving despondent 
feelings far in the rear. 

I, for one, will never again tie myself to the apron 
strings of relationship outside of the paternal roof. 
There is more to be lost than gained. I have been 
made despondent when I should have been elated, and 
that through no fault of my own. But then there is a 
little information to be gained every day, and we need 
never to be beaten twice the same way. I lacked 
caution when I ventured in this undertaking, or hardly 
this either, for if I had done as my best judgment dic- 
tated to me, when at Salt Lake City, I would have 
returned immediately to California. I do believe that 
if I would be governed more by the first impulses of 
my mind, that I would often work out consistent plans 
with orreater ease than I do. 

There is good in everything. It does not do for a 
complete stranger to put his hands in fighting posture, 
cock his eyes at you, and inform you by way of intro- 
duction, "Wall, I guess you're a tarnation logger-head, 
you aire," meaning to cast some reproach at another's 
personal appearance, and general mental capacities. 
You would see a hand gently moving towards the belt 
that always encircles the waist. It w^hould be a fine 
thing if these appendages had never been introduced. 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, 263 

Because the danger of being knocked down on the 
spot, and having his beauty spoiled, is likely to be a 
much greater inducement to proper behavior, than the 
pistol, to a man v^ho can offend in this manner. Yet, 
there are times when the pistol has the effect of awing 
men into decent politeness. 

Of course, to knock a man down is never good 
manners. But there is a way of doing it gracefully, 
and one thing should be observed. Whether you com- 
mand your temper or not, never show it, except by 
the blow. Never assail an offender with words, for it 
has a tendency to make bad, worse. I would not 
speak as above, but the surrounding circumstances 
in the West are such, that every man you meet is 
weighted down with weapons of death and destruc- 
tion. You very seldom see a man who does not have 
them, and then it is simply because he is not able to 
afford something of the sort. There are those here, 
who for a small gratuity, would decide for another 
whether their honor was hurt or not. 

Hunting and shooting are the only amusements on 
Green River at the present time. In fact this, together 
with boating and hallooing at the cattle, are all the 
accomplishments we know ; yet these are sufficient to 
drive away dull care, and to make time less tedious. 
I know there are a great many who hunt, who have ac- 
complished but little when the day is over; yet I know of 
nothing that gives more pleasure to a skillful marksman 
than the chase. Here deer, elk, antelope, and wolves 
can be shot without traveling over miles of rugged 



264 HOW I KNOW. 

country. Many parts of the West are very thinly 
settled, or are entirely uninhabited. In such places, 
game is more easily approached than it is in places 
where the hunter's or sportsman's fusilade is continually 
kept up, and where the baying of the dogs is heard on 
every side, as they go charging on in hot pursuit of the 
crippled or badly-frightened animals, and where, now 
and again, the huntsman's voice is heard breaking in, 
urging on his ever-faithful companions to the capture. 

There are a great many things essentially necessary 
to be a good hunter. Skill is needed; as a man must be 
familiar with the habits of the game he is in pursuit of, 
in order to approach it. Pluck is needed, for it is weari- 
some work to carry a heavy rifle and trudge through 
the forests and over the desolate plains, all day long. 
Nothing escapes the eye of the old hunter. He quickly 
discovers the cause of the least rustle. He hears every 
sound. He is quickly aware of every danger. Years 
of careful hunting for game have made him familiar 
with all the various sounds; consequently, he will tell you 
on the instant what it is that makes a noise. And 
where a variety of sounds seem all mingled together, 
he quickly singles each one out, and traces it to its 
source. 

There are various ways of hunting. In hunting 
deer, the hunter often goes early and reaches their 
resorts by break of day, as deer feed in the morning, 
early. When the sun is warm, they have to be routed 
from thickets or their sequestered haunts; starting early, 
then, gives the hunter many advantages that cannot be 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 



265 



had later in the day. The hunter hides himself early, 
and watches for the feeding or travehng game. In a 
part of the country, where game is plenty, the hunter 
seldom misses his "luck" and fails to get something. 
If he is hunting sheep, he ascends to the highest, rough- 
est, rockiest mountain fastnesses in the vicinity, as it is 







HUNTING BUFFALO IN THE OLDEN TIME. 

here where the mountain sheep love to gambol. Sheep 
are very different, by nature and disposition, from any 
other animal. Though they are large, they are inno- 
cent and inoffensive in every way. They are seldom 
seen in the low lands. 

Deer, however, are found in every locality. They 



266 HOW I KNOW. 

frequent both high mountains and low valleys; but dur- 
ing the cold winter months, while the snow is deep, they 
become more numerous in the valleys and low bench 
lands. At such times they are more easily hunted, 
and their flesh is fatter and better flavored than at any 
other time of the year. In warm seasons they frequent 
the slopes of timbered mountains, high up, where the 
flies are not so bad. They are difficult to approach, 
and, once alarmed, they are gone like a shot. When 
a flock of them is started, in a thicket, they make the 
brush crack loud enough to be heard half a mile away. 
They are different from the antelope. The antelope 
is similar, in size and weight, to the white-tailed deer; 
their legs are longer, and they are very nimble. They 
are found, chiefly, where the country is rolling, and on 
the hills destitute of timber, where grass is found in 
abundance. 

The country through here is different from any 
other portion of the West. Both sides are hemmed in 
with high mountain chains. The valley is thickly 
dotted over with sand buttes and destitute of water, for 
miles and miles. And yet, day after day, we seem to 
be constantly in sight of water; but each time we find 
that we have been deceived by mirages. This part of 
the country bears evidences of the presence of min- 
erals, all the Avay from the Squash Mountains, or 
Three Peaks, clear through to Leadville. There is 
water coming from the canons, on either side, but it all 
sinks ere it reaches the valley. In some of these 
places I saw as good indications of gold as there are 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 267 

anywhere in the gold diggings of the West. I have 
in some of these gulches, seen good pan prospects. 
Some were worth thirty-four cents. But the Indians 
are bad, and water is scarce. The supply of timber is 
limited to the short, scrubby pine and cedars. This is, 
moreover, three hundred miles from any settlements; 
so that it will be seen that a small band of men would 
run great risk in undertaking to stay in this section of 
the country. 

These valleys constantly vary from one-half to three 
and five miles in width. This is a beautiful place, as 
far as looking at the grandeur of nature is concerned, 
but barrenness and destitution mark all its surround- 
ings. Either range is covered, for the greater part of 
the year, with a varying thickness of snow. Here the 
ranges are white in June. I have been traveling 
through these valleys often with my companions, w^hen 
we were all suffering from thirst, when, by looking in 
the distance, for half a mile or a mile, Ave could observe 
a large lake of water, and see men in boats and canoes 
paddling about in the \\^ater, everything looking as na- 
tural as if it were real. And the famished traveler makes 
for the lake to slake his thirst. He travels on and on 
and on, until, finally, the lake, boats and men begin to 
disappear, and, by and by, the thing is all gone. The 
traveler is by this time sick at heart, weary, and begins 
to despair. 

One trip is generally enough to satisfy a wanderer 
that this is no place in which to linger. Contrast the 
barrenness of this country with the fertility of the val- 



2G8 HO W I KNO W. 

leys in the East, and mark well the difference, and 
there is no civilized man on the face of this christian- 
ized world that would envy the red man of the forest 
this country. He may like to hunt through the foot- 
hills for antelope, but the bottom lands contain no 
allurement for him. He soon grows foot-sore and 
weary, and it is with pleasure that he reaches a stream 
of cool water. 

We are now approaching the Gunnison, a small 
river of snow water, which runs with a rapid current. 
When we first come in sight of the stream, we are 
still high up on the top of the mountain, where every- 
thing is barren and desolate. To come suddenly to 
the edge of this rugged precipice, and to get an unex- 
pected glimpse across and up and down the deep val- 
ley at your feet, to see either bank carpeted with the 
richest of grass, and a luxuriant growth of joint rushes, 
and dotted here and there with clusters of cotton- 
wood of magnificent growth, and to see game of all 
kinds in abundance, in every direction, is like taking a 
peep into the Indian's happy hunting grounds. The 
sudden contrast is so great as to make an entrance 
from the surrounding barren mountains into this rich 
valley like an entrance into a new world. This is cer- 
tainly a most beautiful place, and I do not know where 
to find a nicer. This valley is quite small. I suppose 
that one thousand acres will include all the good land 
there is in it. 

After crossing the Gunnison, we then travel along 
the Uncompahgre River. Here, again, we see some 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 269 

beautiful land. Along the river bank, however, is a 
wilderness of brush. It is only here and there that 
one can get through this, to the water's edge. We 
are now in sight of the stage road, that leads from 
Saguache to Ouray and San Miguel. And, oh, what a 
blessed sight it is to see the wagons coming toward 
you, from other directions. The stage road intersects 
our own road, six miles below Ouray village, which is 
an Indian town. 

Reader, imagine yourself shut off for six months 
from all communication with the world, with no op- 
portunity to hear a word from any of your friends at 
home, or to see a newspaper, from which to learn any 
events of the day, and then try to imagine how you 
would feel in meeting with friends again. I do think 
that twice as many events transpire during such a 
period of time as take place at any other time, when 
we see them and know them as they occur. Every- 
thing seems new, and one cannot help feeling that he 
has grown older rapidly, in a short time. There is a 
strange sensation, in such an experience, that cannot 
be pictured or told. 

Ouray, the peace chief of the Ute Nation, lives 
here on the Uncompahgre River. He has a splendid 
location, in the heart of a beautiful valley. The old 
chief occupies a good house, which is as nicely finished 
as though built by a skilled mechanic. He owns one 
section of land, in his own name, which is somewhat 
improved, and enclosed with a strong fence. Quite a 
number of his tribe are always around him, but they 



270 HOW I KNOW. 

seem more negligent in the matter of well-doing than 
Ouray himself. There are dogs here by hundreds, 
of all breeds, kinds and colors, and of every shade of 
disposition. They are all sizes and shapes — sleek ones 
and wooly ones, large ones and small ones. Some of 
them are good for hunting, and others for watching 
camp; some seem fitted only for barking, while there 
are others that will bite ; all are lean and hungry- 
looking. When a white man enters the village, there 
is at once a regular pandemonium of yelping, growling, 
and barking. It is fearful to be beset with four or five 
hundred such snarling, ugly-looking curs as are found 
in an Indian village. 

They have horses, cattle, sheep, and goats in large 
herds. These are seen in many parts of the valley, 
with Indian herders lying around watching them. They 
do no farming. I have often seen it stated that the 
Ute Indians are great farmers. Ten acres will cover 
all the little patches that are cultivated throughout the 
whole tribe. The hoe is the principal implement used 
in tilling these patches. They make no hay, since the 
country abounds in grass, winter and summer. Snow 
does not fall deep nor remain long. The valley is so 
situated that the sun shines into it lengthwise, and the 
climate is, in consequence, unusually warm, consider- 
ing the fact that the valley is six thousand feet above 
sea level. 

Ten miles farther up the river we came to the 
new Los Pinos Agency. Major Wheeler was at this 
time acting as distributing Agent for the Ute Indians. 



MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 271 

Here the Indians would gather in for the supplies dis- 
tributed by the agent and furnished by the United 
States government. There are only a few buildings 
here, erected by the Government, for the sole purpose 
of a distributing depot. They have an Agency Post- 
Office. Not that the Indians need such an institution, 
however, for none of them can read. They all talk 
broken Spanish and Indian quite glibly. Twenty-five 
miles on up the river we came to Ouray City. This 
is a bustling mining town of perhaps five hundred 
inhabitants, principally prospecting miners. Saloons 
are plenty, and there are more stores than are needed 
for the place, for they are all running behind. Not 
that there is not a demand for goods, but cash is 
scarce ; cheek, and promises to pay, seem to be the 
chief currency oi the place. 

At this place we unloaded our wagons and sold 
out, taking almost anything we could get. We . sold 
at ruinous prices. We got cash in part, and promises 
to pay for the rest, and experience has shown me that 
they will be promises to pay for a long time to come. 
And such is life! 



272 HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER XX. 

SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST? 

NOW I am once again in a mining community. 
Here, as in every mining region, we find that 
other branches of industry are very limited, and that 
everything depends upon the development of the mines. 
Quartz mining is always located in rocky regions, 
where fruits, vegetables, and grain cannot be cultiva- 
ted. The consequence is that everything which miners 
consume, or need, must be shipped from other points. 
A prosperous mining town is always, therefore, a good 
market-place for vegetables and provisions of all kinds. 
They command a fair or high price, ow4ng to the dis- 
tance they are shipped, and the amount on the market. 
American mining enterprises are generally carried 
on by corporations, which wield powers unknown, in 
any other country. These, in their efforts to make 
dividends on fictitious capital, reduce the w^ages of their 
employes as low as practicable; and, except at com- 
peting points, burden production by heavy and discrim- 
inating rates for transportation. No such tremendous 
power w^as ever concentrated elsewhere in the hands of 
a few men, as is concentrated in the hands of the men 
who control these great corporations. A few men rule 
the whole mining business throughout the West. They 
put rates up or down at pleasure. They wield a power 
which absolute monarchs would hesitate to exercise. 



SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST. 273 

They generally have no permanent investment of stock 
in any of their corporations. The business is usually 
built up by loans on the donated property, and the 
excess of stock, w^hen disposed of, goes into the pock- 
ets of the ruling faction, w^ho are stock-holders and 
directors. These men own (subject to the Hens upon 
them) and absolutely control said incorporations, which 
have cost them comparatively nothing, and out of 
which they realize vast riches. They have the full 
control of the money and stock, and have no fear of 
competition. They generally control all the approaches 
to their magnificence. 

Secure in their chartered rights, there can be no 
interference with their liberal privileges. Unrestrained 
in their traffic, they control the transportation of the pro- 
ductions, and in no small measure, the labor of a country 
vast enough and rich enough for an empire. Whenever 
two such contending parties begin to strive for suprem- 
acy, then good times come with a rush for the little folks 
on the outside. The indications of prosperity can then 
be seen in the crowded stores, in the busy workshops, 
in the hopeful and happy faces of miners, mechanics, 
and speculators ; in every department of industry, in 
the active stock market, in the mining stock board, in 
the increased clearings. They can be seen in the bouy- 
ant spirits of men in every branch of trade, and in the 
increased confidence of those with money, and of hope 
among those without money. They open up fair fields, 
rich in the promises of a glorious harvest. There are 
new enterprises started, which were never thought of 

i8 



274 HOW I KNO W. 

before; and these, when once started, are pushed on 
rapidly to completion. These are days of buying and 
selling — money is plenty, and business and speculation, 
in all directions, are brisk and lively. But it is soon 
apparent to all that the circulating capital is accumu- 
lating in the hands of the capitaHst. Now, this is in 
accordance with the laws of trade, and must, inevitably, 
take place. The majority of the community are not 
hoarders of, or dealers in money, but spenders of 
money. Give them any quantity of it, and they will 
soon part with it for something more desirable. The 
consequence is, that it then finds its way into the hands 
of the people who make it their business to hoard it, 
or loan it at high rates; and no injustice has been done 
to any class. Yet corporations, as conducted, work 
injury to all classes. One word more, and then I will 
open up another subject. 

If the naturalness of the laws of classification of 
business was fully understood, and, also, the fact that 
money is only really a commodity, subject to the same 
laws of exchange, supply and demand as other things, it 
would go far toward uprooting the pestilential econo- 
mic heresies, which are such fruitful breeders of 
popular discontent. The tillers of the soil are the real 
sovereigns of labor, and of manly independence. A 
glance at the history of our own country, and at the 
present condition of industry in England and the conti- 
nental nations, should be sufficient to make even the 
chronic grumbler reasonably contented. It is question- 
able whether there has ever been a time, since the 



SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 275 

discovery of America, when a large class of people 
were not complaining of hard times, and the scarcity 
of money. Some point to other days as " the good old 
times," when money was plenty and business lively. 
We can all have money if we earn and save it. 

Having expressed myself as I have about the incor- 
porated companies, and their control of the mining 
interests of the West, some might think I would 
guarantee fortunes to all who would come West. I 
cannot do that. You know some men will succeed in 
anything anywhere, while others will fail in everything 
everywhere. I desire to be no obstacle to hinder the 
success of the first, nor can I prevent the failure of the 
last, though I may aid in shaping the destiny of each. 
And, even should I do neither, I am not likety to learn 
of my instrumentality in the latter case, or to hear the 
last of it in the former. I will assume the pressure. 
It is my purpose and effort to make clear to the public 
a description of the West. 

Now, mines can be bought here at prices ranging 
from a few hundred to a million or more dollars. Pros- 
pects are for sale for from a few hundreds up to many 
thousands of dollars, and mining claims from fifty dollars 
up to some hundreds. To obtain the immense sums 
asked for some of these mines, owners must show that 
their mines have yielded thousands of dollars' worth, or 
milHons, as the case may be, of the precious metals. 
They may never yield as much again, however; for, 
though in sight, to an apparently vast extent, that 
extent and value can only be guessed. Still, men will 



276 HOW I KNOW, 

pay millions for a mine that has been mined, who would 
not pay thousands for a prospect that has not been 
mined. Others will pay thousands for a prospect, who 
would not pay hundreds for a single claim, which some- 
times sells for a few dollars, and proves of as much 
value as either of the others. Hence, all have a sell- 
ing value fluctuating widely from day to day, being 
governed by influences peculiar to mining districts. 
There are numerous instances on record here, as else- 
where, where claims have been sold at large prices, 
that proved worthless when worked. We often see 
mines of this class that have been aban- 
doned for years; and there are hundreds 
of others whose owners would be much 
better ofl* if they would quit and let the 
claims go. Again, there are others that 
have cost their present owners very little, 
which have become of great value when 
developed. The sturdy prospector, when 
HE PAID A BIG PRICE. \^Q fiuds hlmsclf thc owner of a single 
undeveloped claim, though it be with rather unpromis- 
ing surface indications, directs all his first efforts to 
testing its value, instead of wasting them in sinking a 
dozen more or less assessment shafts, on as many ad- 
jacent claims, which could afterwards be purchased at 
almost any offer. 

The success of judicious investments in partly de- 
veloped claims is oftentimes well illustrated. There 
has been an expenditure of a vast amount of money 
and labor in some of these San Juan districts to 




SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. Ill 

establish confidence with capitalists in the wealth of 
some of these districts. One great feature in the es- 
tablishing of a camp is to get men to believe there is 
no other camp comparatively its equal, and another is 
to have daily acquisitions of men who have faith in the 
theory, that underlying the entire district is a body of 
rich minerals practically inexhaustible, and who, hav- 
ing means to demonstrate the truth of the theory, will 
use money to do so. Always try to keep the outlook 
of a camp away in advance of what it really is. Keep 
mercantile interests well represented, if anything ahead 
of the mineral developments — the more rapid and the 
farther ahead, the better prospect for the excitement 
which must come to a camp before its merits are no- 
ticed. Wherever mineral is discovered, crowds soon 
become simply enormous. Hundreds of the new ar- 
rivals have not a cent in their pockets and no way of 
obtaining money. Hundreds of men line the streets 
every day, idle, because they cannot obtain work. 

Here in south-western Colorado are numerous min- 
ing camps, and hundreds and thousands of people are 
continually on the move hither and thither, drifting 
toward the latest excitements. And the truth about 
the San Juan regions has not and cannot be told on 
paper, because as long as the excitements continue to 
start, the cry is, "Still they come!" Neither snow nor 
cold seem to offer any obstacle to the anxious crowd 
of crazy fortune-hunters, who are rushing to this coun- 
try, supposed to be rich in carbonates and other ores. 
It is true that mines are in some cases paying. It is 



278 HOW I KNOW. 

equally as true that not one in five hundred, who flock 
here to make their fortunes by digging for minerals, suc- 
ceeds in making any more than a precarious living. The 
temptation held out by prospects of sudden wealth over- 
comes all obstacles, and thousands upon thousands of per- 
sons, who were making good wages at home, come here 
to find disappointment of the most bitter and perplexing 
kind. Unable to make discoveries that will warrant cap- 
italists in investing their means, failing in their efforts to 
obtain employment at rates that promise immediate 
wealth, they become discouraged and dejected, and re- 
sort to the cup, and in a short time the story is told. 
This is by no means a fancy sketch, as any one not 
misled as to the circumstances can inform you. 

In view of what I have seen in my long stay in the 
West, I think that any one who encourages immigration 
to mining regions incurs a grave responsibility. And, 
from what I have seen, it seems probable to my mind 
that, if the immigration still continues as it has for a few 
years past, the mountain ranges will soon be whitened 
with the bones of men who have died from hunger and 
cold; for it is impossible for the country to feed so 
many. You may take the richest mining country ever 
struck on the globe, and there is less than one in ten 
of the prospectors who ever discover any thing. But 
this dismal prospect does not alter the facts with regard 
to the mines. And these facts are readily ascertained 
by persons who are competent to weigh evidence, and 
have access to the proper sources of information. This 
San Juan country is very different from California or 



SHALL THE YOUNG MAN GO WEST. 



279 



Nevada. Here we do not find such pleasant regions; 
but we do find a barren wilderness, more than ten thou- 
sand "feet above the sea, where the soil will not even 
grow potatoes; where snow falls every month in the 
year, and men were fi-ozen to death in August, 1878. 

Of Leadville, every one has heard. No discovery 
of mineral since the California gold excitement of '48 
and '49 has attracted greater attention than the discov- 







THESE DID NOT GROW IN A MINING REGION. 

ery and development of the Leadville mines at the head 
waters of the Arkansas River. Where Leadville now 
stands was an old mining camp, which had been 
worked for gold from 1859 to 1867. The yield then 
was considerable. It is said that, in i860, three million 
dollars were taken out. But the diggings were aban- 
doned in 1867. In those days, it is said, the miners 
"daubed" their cabins with what was supposed to be 
mud, but which was really carbonate, worth three or 
four hundred dollars a ton. 



280 HOW I KNOW. 

Mr. W. H. Stevens, of Lake Superior mining fame, 
a resident of Detroit, was the first to undertake system- 
atic mining operations for silver in Leadville. Old Cali- 
fornia and Nevada miners scoffed at the idea of finding 
anything of value in the carbonates. They were soft, 
not hard. They were "pancake" deposits, not veins. 
The oldest and wisest among them had never seen any 
metal extracted from such stuff. Still Stevens had his 
followers, however. Numbers of men swarmed upon 
the hills, and began to sink shafts. Some of them 
were speedily rewarded. Romantic stories are told of 
the vicissitudes of fortune which befell the early dis- 
coverers. How some of them would wander from store 
to store, vainly begging for a sack of flour to enable 
them to go on with their work, who, since, in some in- 
stances, have sold out for enormous sums, and now live 
in splendor. How some of them gave up in despair 
while others, on the verge of desperation, would strike 
the pick into the ground in their rage, and would un- 
cover the wall of a fissure vein. Whatever of truth 
there may be in such tales, there is no doubt of the fact 
that some rich carbonates have been struck, varying in 
value from eight to ten hundred ounces per ton, and 
some large fortunes have been realized by the lucky 
discoverers. The carbonates have been found lying in 
nearly horizontal deposits, at depths of from thirty to 
one hundred and fifty feet below the surface. No 
blasting is required in the shafts, and the ore can be 
extracted for two dollars a ton. 

Such astonishing bonanzas, of course, created an 



SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 281 

• excitement far and wide. A grand rush of men came 
centering from all quarters, twelve thousand arrivmg 
in the last three months of 1878. Huge machinery for 
smelting works and saw-mills was hauled over the 
mountains at an enormous expense. People came by the 
hundreds from Denver, walking painfully for one hun- 
dred and forty miles through the snow, by way of the 
canon. In December of 1878 Leadville was full of men 
who had no homes, who, for want of better lodgings, 
slept in the sawdust on the bar-room floors. The most 
of these had a little money, perhaps enough to get them 
food without working. They spent their time in bar- 
rooms, gambling houses, dance houses, or on the side- 
walk, discussing the last great strike. Half a bed in 
some miserable attic was worth two dollars a night. 
Mechanics' wages were from four to five dollars a day. 
Town-lots, that were worth fifty dollars in October, 
commanded three thousand four months after. This is 
astonishing. In 1876 this region was almost a wilder- 
ness; now a growing, bustHng, roaring town of twelve 
thousand inhabitants forms the nucleus of a thriving 
settlement. These people have gathered here from 
all parts of the compass. Every State and Territory, 
and every " neck of the woods " are represented. The 
bulk of the population, however, poured in from west- 
ern towns and cities, Chicago alone furnishing a large 
proportion. One paper said every road led to Lead- 
ville, and every road is Hned with adventurers bound 

for Leadville. 

On the occasion of a big mining excitement hun^ 



282 



HOJV I KNOW. 



dreds of people arrive during each twenty-four hours. 
People rush to the mines pell-mell, expecting to dig up 
great chunks of silver and to become rich in a day. 
A majority of them start with no more money than 
will pay their travehng expenses and a week's board, 
and are in a truly pitiable pHght when, with no money 
and nothing to do, they discover that all those beauti- 
ful day-dreams of riches acquired suddenly, and without 




AN OLD '49ER NOT YET RICH. 

labor, are not to be realized. Even the western papers, 
which are interested in the settlement of the country, 
admit that the number of moneyless, idle men in the 
West is entirely too large. Many old miners who have 
been there since the discoveries were first made, and 
have been doing their level best to earn a livelihood, 
are still destitute. The mines are bonanzas, but men 



SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST. 283 

of capital usually harvest the profits. Brains and 
muscle, without money, amount to little in an ex- 
citement. 

Here in the mountains poverty is of the most prac- 
tical and unpoetic sort. It means association with 
reckless adventurers and desperadoes, and no proba- 
bility of rising above that level. It means scarcely 
anything to eat; nothing but water to drink, and no 
railroad ticket for any other point. It means the se- 
verest hardships, which men are ever compelled to en- 
dure in this country. I have conversed freely with 
the best citizens of the West upon this question, and I 
have yet to find one whose sentiments are not fairly 
reflected by the foregoing statement. There is abun- 
dant room for men of moderate means or for capitalists. 
All over the mountains the mineral is deposited in 
strata as rich, no doubt, as any yet discovered, and 
only awaits capital to take it out. It is difficult to fur- 
nish employment to a hundred men when there is 
only sufficient to engage one-fifth or one-tenth of that 
number. 

This is the status of the case in the West. The 
towns are filled with men, anxious to obtain employ- 
ment, food and lodgings; but they can find neither. 
Food is plenty, but these persons have nothing with 
which to purchase it. The hammer of the mechanic 
can be heard in every city, in every quarter, and at 
nearly all hours of the day and night. But there is a 
limit to the employment of skilled labor. Large num- 
bers of men are engaged in carrying on the different 



284 



HOW I KNOW. 



branches of industry. But there are three idle for 
every one at work. 

When night comes on scores of them sleep wher- 
ever they can get an opportunity to he down on the 
floor. I have seen them also under houses, barns, 
trees, and even out in the open air, unprotected from 
the weather, except by a thin woolen blanket. Lodg- 
ing cannot be obtained without money, and people rush 

in here, without having the where- 
withal necessary to furnish personal 
comforts. In some cases of extreme 
hunger, some live on "floaters;" that 
is, they gather the crumbs and crusts 
from waste baskets and swill tubs, 
and eat these. I have seen men, 
who could get nothing to eat, thus 
fishing in swill buckets for scraps, 
and eating things that have been 
thrown from the tables for the pigs 
and chickens. 

I will gladly leave this subject, for 
I feel it none of the best to talk about. Although I 
have said nothing but what I can easily verify by 
witnesses, many of them men who will readily ac- 
knowledge that they were in the same boat, adrift 
without money, without friends, and without home, 
bread, or bed. One of the most painful sights in 
this world is to see poor, way-faring mortals, in their 
helpless poverty, thus compelled to throw them- 
selves entirely upon the mercies of strangers. They 




DEAD BROKE. 



SHALL THE TOUNG MAN GO WEST, 285 

are willing enough to work, but there is no work 
to do; consequently, they are left to beg and starve. 
But some may object, and say that no one ever yet 
starved in America. But I know that persons have 
starved, for I have seen it. I say this is a deplorable 
condition for men and women to come to. 

Were it not for the hospitable people of San Fran- 
cisco, one-tenth of the permanent population of that city 
would be dead in less than six months, and a large por- 
tion of the transient population would starve daily. And 
yet, San Francisco furnishes the cheapest living, and sets 
tables covered with the choicest fruits, and has the great- 
est number of wealthy men, according to the population 
pro rata, of any city in the United States. She has nicer 
churches, and more infidels; greater heaps of yellow 
gold, and yet more poverty; magnificent places of amuse- 
ment, and yet more misery; a splendid cHmate, and yet 
more suicides; many most excellent citizens, and yet 
more leading lives of gambling, wickedness and sin, 
than any other city in America. 

So in other places, also, the times are different from 
what they were a few years ago, when the country 
was new, and before the people had commenced to rush 
to the West without some ideas of their own before 
they started. Now it seems that as soon as a young 
man in the East gets money enough to carry him to 
the West, even though he sacrifice friends and a re- 
munerative position, without any object whatever in 
view, only to get West, away he goes. When he gets 
here he finds all the mercantile houses well filled with 



286 . HOW I KNOW. 



clerks and salesmen. The schools are supplied with 
teachers. The mines have a surplus supply of miners, 
and, in fact, every branch of labor, science, or skill 
has already a surplus of "needles" to support. 

To those with little means I would say: If you have 
been or are now contemplating going to the West, you 
will find it hard to get there, and much harder to get 
away. The best policy is to stay where you are doing 
well, and let "try to do better by going West" alone. 
To those who have plenty of money I have only to say: 
You know how you got it, and, if you would travel 
with it, you can behold untold grandeur in the works 
of Nature and of man by traveling in the West. You may 
behold its many rocky heights, some of them covered 
with perpetual snow. You may descend into valleys of 
continual spring where snow never falls. What a marked 
difference of atmospheric temperature one day's travel 
will make! You' can go from the cold, chilly mount- 
ains, where ice and snow are thick and deep, to 
where it is Spring and the flowers are blooming in 
their many different colors of beauty. The change is 
so sudden that one almost imagines himself in a new 
world of glory, and such, indeed, it is to one who has 
been in the chilly hills for a year or so. 

I am going to close this chapter, and soon my book. 
I am leaving out many things that are interesting; but 
I cannot undertake to write them all. I have some- 
times thought as the puzzled Englishman did. I will 
copy his experience. It is a well-known fact that in high 
altitudes, owing to the rarified condition of the atmos- 



SHALL THE rOUNG MAN GO WEST. 287 

phere, objects are visible at a great distance. At 
the city of Denver the Rocky Mountains, although 
some sixteen miles distant, seem to be very near by. 
An EngHsh gentleman, a tourist, came in on the 
Kansas Pacific train one morning, and stopped at the 
Inter-Ocean Hotel, in Denver. He soon made the ac- 
quaintance of two of the old citizens. The Englishman 
was captivated with the appearance of the mountains, 
and suggested to the two old citizens that, as the 
mountain range was such a very short distance from 
the city, they should all take a walk to it, and return 
in time for dinner. The two old citizens saw a chance 
for some fun, and immediately consented. The trio 
started, and walked toward the mountains for about 
two hours and a half; but the mountains seemed 
as far away as ever. The Englishman was a good 
walker, and kept a little in advance of his friends. 
Finally they saw him deliberately sit down as he came 
to a small, irrigating ditch, perhaps two feet w^ide, and 
begin taking off his boots and stockings. When they 
came up to where he was sitting, they asked him in 
some surprise what he was doing that for. The 
Englishman said he was going to wade the stream. 
Both the old citizens, looking at him in astonishment, 
asked him why he didn't step across it. 

"Step across it," he replied, "step across it! Not I! 
What do I know about the distance in your confounded 
country? It may be three hundred feet across." 

Now this is not given, of course, for a veritable fact; 
yet it has a meaning, showing how deceiving appear- 



288 HOW I KNOW. 

ances are to one traveling across prairies, valleys, or 
plains among the mountains. The atmosphere is purer 
and lighter than at low altitudes. Consequently the 
eye can distinguish objects at a much greater distance 
than is realized. You see some point at a distance, 
and think you can reach that on horseback in tw^o 
hours, when you might not arrive at it in a day's 
travel. In the mountains and canons sounds rumble 
and re-echo with greater force than elsewhere. The 
roar of the thunder here is terrible. The lightning is 
sharper and more brilliant than in low altitudes. Water- 
spouts or " cloud-bursts " are numerous, often sweeping 
large gullies out before the roaring cataract. Trees, 
houses, earth, rock, everything standing in its course, 
will be swept on to destruction. Whole rivers of 
water seem to fall from the clouds at once. These are 
more numerous in the Fall than at any other season of 
the year. Sometimes they open up with a noise of 
thunder fearful to hear, that goes rolling and rumbling 
over the mountains to die in the distance. Oftentimes 
the winds sweep along at the same time with devastat- 
ing effect. 



A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 289 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 

AS I have before said, the Western people are great 
lovers of amusement. .While I was at Ojo Cali- 
enta, in Mexico, there w^ere advertisements posted, an- 
nouncing that a bull-fight would take place on a certain 
day. I had never seen a fight between a man and a 
bull; so here was something new to me, and, as I had 
considerable curiosity to see how such a fight would be 
managed, I remained over until the following Thurs- 
day to see it. Ojo Calienta is a very pretty little place; 
but built after the fashion of all its sister towns. It is 
peopled with Spaniards and Mexicans. I did not see 
an American, while we remained in the town, other 
than the members of our own little party. There are 
about one thousand inhabitants. 

The country people began to flock into town two 
days before the time set for the fight, and some of the 
comers were hardly of the first families of Mexico. 
The place was soon crowded with people from all 
parts of the country. Long before the time announced 
for the fight to begin, I made my way to the corral. 
I had waited to see the fight, and did not wish to be 
deprived of the opportunity. So I went early to get 
a favorable position. I found quite a number already 
assembled. I went forward, and secured a front seat; 
then I began a survey of all the arrangements for the 



290 



HOW I KNOW. 



entertainment. The fight was to take place in a corral 
that was enclosed with high adobe walls, so high that 
neither man nor beast could break out. On three sides 
of this corral a strong scaffolding has been raised to a 
level with the wall, gradually rising higher as it re- 
ceded. On this, seats had been prepared for all those 
wishing to witness the sport. 

From my seat I could see everything. I watched 
to see the character of the spectators as they gathered. 
I saw the old, white-haired Mexicans, with faces fur- 
rowed by deep- 



set wrinkles; so 
old and bent-up 
that they had to 
be assisted to their 
seats. The aged 
crone was there, 
browned and 
withered. Young 




MEXICAN OUTLAWS. 



women 
there in 



were 
large 



numbers, some of them with pure white complexions, 
and eyes as black as coals, and hair of the same color, 
long enough to reach the ground. The married man was 
there, with his arms full of children and bundles. The 
young man was there with his beloved maiden in her 
very ornamental dress. Many of the lady spectators 
were of pure Castilian blood, and good-looking enough 
to be the belles of any society or civilized community. 
With their long, black hair and their sparkling, black 



A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 



291 



eyes; their clear, white complexion, and their gaudy 
dress, selected more on account of brilliancy of color 
than of any other quality, and with forms as symmet- 
rical and graceful as can be found in any clime, I 
thought them as beautiful a group of the fair sex as I 
had ever seen anywhere. The young men, darker-col- 
ored than their sisters, were there with their broad-brim- 
med hats, from under which a pair of brilHant eyes 
shone out, apparently taking in all the surroundings at a 
glance. And, from their dark scowHng at one another, 
I concluded I could eas- 
ily guess their thoughts. 
Some of these fellows 
were well-dressed, while 
others wore only a hat, 
sandals and breech-cloth. 
At length the Mexi- 
can, who was to be the 
principal actor in the 
scene, stepped into the 

corral. He was not a Mexican maiden, lower class. 

large man, but well-built and powerful. He was 
dressed suitably for the occasion, with a pair of light 
and close-fitting pants, the waist-band of which was 
encircled with a large, red morocco belt. On his feet 
he wore neat-fitting, light slippers, fastened with flash- 
ing buckles. A short staff, which he carried in his 
hand, and a knife in his belt were his only weapons for 
the deadly encounter, in which he was about to engage. 
The crowd had grown somewhat impatient with wait- 




292 HO W I KNO W. 

ing for the entertainment to begin. I had been enjoy- 
ing myself very much looking at the many fantastic 
and grotesque spectators gathered around me. 

But, when the glaring, pawing bull was let in sud- 
denly through a side door, an awful sensation shot 
through my whole frame. I could but feel a strong 
sense of fear and dread at the awful tragedy about to 
begin ; and I think a sort of presentiment of some- 
thing terrible thrilled the entire multitude. Every 
noise was hushed into perfect silence, more quickly than 
I can write this sentence. The animal was large, power- 
ful, and active. As he stood there, pawing and snorting, 
his very hair seemed to stand out threateningly. He 
looked like a terrible opponent to meet in single com- 
bat. One of the guardsmen gave him a thrust with a 
sharp-pointed lance, and, simultaneously, others in at- 
tendance commenced to wave their red flags in front 
of him. The viatadore^ all this time, stood near the 
center of the arena, as firm and still as a post. I 
looked to see him falter, or show some sign of fear. 
I could not see the least change of color in his face, 
as he stood watching the beast, and expecting a rush 
at any moment. 

I sat looking at the man, and then at the beast, 
wondering how the battle would begin. I had not 
long to wait, for the animal had now been tormented 
into such a state of fury, that his eyes looked almost 
green with rage. With a roar, that was terrible to 
all who heard it, he dashed suddenly at the matadore, 
with his head down, with the evident purpose of toss- 



A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 



293 



ing him into eternity. I watched him rushing until I 
felt sure that his horns had reached their aim. 
But, no. The Mexican sprang to one side with the 
agility of a cat, dodging the horns of the angry beast, 
and, as the animal passed him, he punched him Hghtly 
wdth his staff, but still enough to enrage him all the 
more. The bull, finding himself baffled, turned, and, 
with more fury than ever, dashed at him again, only 
to be again evaded, and thrust harder than before by 
his adversary. Time after time the enraged beast 
would renew the encoun- 
ter, but with no better 
success; and, every time 
the man would so nimbly 
spring out of the way, 
the audience would 
applaud and cheer loudly. 
The fight was kept 
up in this way until the ^.^ V^-^^ 
animal was completely ^^^ ~^7\{^^^;;^^:^_5 
exhausted, and could pueblo cAciquE, new mexico. 
not be brought to renew the combat. The man was 
then declared the winner, amid the loud applause of 
the multitude. 

Another fight was immediately announced to come 
off in one-half hour, between the same man and an- 
other bull. We all remained seated, watching some 
wrestling and jumping, w^hich, by the way, was nothing 
extra. After about an hour's time another bull was let 
into the corral. This last was a much smaller animal 




294 



HOW I KNOW. 




than the first, but more ferocious, for he made direct 
for his antagonist. The matadore successfully employed 
the same tactics as in the first combat, until several 
rounds were fought, and we were all beginning to think 
that it would terminate like the first. 

But this was not to be the case; for, all at once, the 
man either slipped, or made a miscalculation, and the 
bull caught him on his horns, and tossed him far over 
to one side, near the wall. The man fell with a heavy 
thud on the ground, badly hurt. The bull made at him 

again. Then ensued a 
scene far different from 



anything that had yet 
been seen that day. 
Women and children 
were screaming with 
terror. Several of the 
men,dreading accidents, 
began to shoot the bull. 
The spectators, rush- 
MExicAN INDIANS. iug togcthcr in their 

terror, broke down some of the scaffolding, and several 
were hurt in that way. They succeeded in killing the 
bull, before he had killed the mafado7X. But the man 
was so severely hurt that he had to be carried from 
the field, and placed under the care of surgeons and 
nurses. There was such a crowd around him, that I 
did not get to see how badly he was injured. A general 
commotion followed the kilHng of the animal. Every- 
thing was in confusion; every one seemed to be trying 



A SPANISH BULL-FIGHT. 295 

to reach the ground first. As soon as the man was 
taken from the ground, the crowd scattered in different 
directions, toward their homes. 

I was told that neither one of the fights was com- 
pleted, as the man generally kills the bull by striking 
a knife deep into his neck. I do not know how that 
may be, but I do know that I will never be a witness 
to another bull-fight. It is a most horrible sight to 
look upon. But, then, this is no new thing among the 
Spanish people, for bull-fighting has been carried on as 
an amusement among them for ages. I would not go 
into a corral, and fight one bull, for all the money there 
is in the United States of America. 



296 HOW I KNOW. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE INDIANS. 

THE general character of the Indians is very sim- 
ilar throughout all the many different tribes. 
There is but very little difference in their habits and 
customs. 

Their wigwams are built of small poles and skins, 
and most always in the form of a p3Tamidal tent. The 
top is open. A low door-way is cut or left in the tent, 
over which the skin of some animal is usually hung. 
The entrance is so low that one must stoop to enter. 
In the center of the hut, or wigwam, a small fire is 
built, and all the inmates gather close enough around it 
to almost smother it out. Nearly all the Indians are now 
in possession of some goods, obtained from the white 
people; hence, you will often see an iron pot, either on 
or close by the fire, containing meat, or other food. 
The wigwam is, of course, almost always full of smoke. 

The floor is strewn with the skins of animals, on 
which they lounge. They sleep on these skins, lying 
in a circle around the fire. Each wigwam accommo- 
dates about seven or eight sleepers. 

The Indians are natural hunters. Some of the tribes 
possess a great many excellent horses. They wander 
and hunt over a vast scope of country. The Indians 
have certain days of festivity and public rejoicing, 
when large crowds of them assemble together. They 



THE INDIANS. 



297 



then have, as the principal part of the day's entertain- 
ment, horse-races, foot-races, and wrestling-matches. 
Shooting at a mark is another one of their pastimes, 
which is indulged in by the hour. They usually select 




INDIAN WIGWAM. 



as a target, some object on a steep hillside, and then 
watch, by the little puff of dust, to see where the ball 
strikes. Each shot, be it good or bad, produces the 
same effect upon the swarthy spectators. 

The Indians are always ready to trade for horses or 



298 HOW I KNOW. 

guns. They never trade for anything they cannot move 
about with them. Often they w^ill exchange a splen- 
did horse, saddle and bridle for a gun, which, though it 
may be a good one, is worth not more than forty dollars, 
while the horse would, perhaps, command over one hun- 
dred dollars. They are all lovers of whisky, and when 
they can procure it in sufficient quantities, they use it 
to great excess. When drunk, they are very noisy, 
and some of them are dangerous. 

Their modes of disposing of their dead differ in 
different tribes. The Sioux place their dead bodies in 
trees, or on a platform, supported by four stakes driven 
into the ground, whichever is the more convenient* for, 
on the plains, sometimes they may be hundreds of miles 
from timber. The Utes sometimes bury the body in 
the ground, and sometimes place it along the side of 
some ledge, where it is weighted down with rocks. If 
an Indian is afflicted with a malarial disease, he is gen- 
erally left to get well as best he can. If he dies, his 
body is either left without any attention, or is burned. 
I was in Utah Territory when Black Hawk, one of 
the war chiefs of the Indians there, died from some 
disease he had contracted. His people burned his 
body, and one of his favorite horses with it. 

At one time, near Manti, some of the Mormon boys 
were following a trail that led to the mountains above. 
At a certain place, where there were ledges and bowl- 
ders without number, they heard some strange noise 
proceeding from the rocks. Upon investigation they 
found an aged Indian woman, who, on account of sick- 



THE INDIANS. 



299 



ness, had been unable to keep up with the train of her 
comrades. They had, therefore, taken and weighted 
her down with rocks, to suffer and starve to death; 
and, but for the timely assistance of the Mormon boys, 
who helped her down to an empty cabin, outside of 
town, where 
she was cared 
for, she soon 
would have 
been where 
no assistance 
could have 
reached her. 

The Indians 
have doctors, 
or medicine 
men, among 
them. When 
one of the tribe 
is attacked with 
sickness his 
comrades gath- 
er around him 
in the evening. 




BLACK HAWK. 



Some of them will walk around his couch, and most 
dismally howl until tired out, when fresh ones take 
their places. Some will be dancing and singing with all 
their might. Others are out in the darkness shooting, 
and making all the noise in their power. In this way 
they keep up a dreadful racket during the whole night. 



300 



HOW I KNOW. 



I have tried to gain admittance at such times, but 
always found sentinels surrounding the camp, who 
would allow no one to enter. They told me that this 




UN INDIO BRAVO, TEXAS. 



demonstration was made for the purpose of keeping 
off the evil spirits, that were supposed to hover around 
the couch of the sick one, ready to convey his spirit 



THE INDIANS. 301 

away. They think that, if they can keep up a sufficient 
noise and racket, they will be able to frighten the evil 
spirits away. The Indians are a very superstitious race 
of people. They beHeve in the future existence of 
mankind, but in this pecuHar way. They think that, if 
an Indian is very courageous and brave, and obtains to 
that higher point of excellence in this life which, in 
their minds, constitutes him a "big brave," the good 
spirits will hover around his dying couch, and, at his 
last breath, will speed away, on swift wings, with his 
immortal spirit to a land that is beautiful beyond de- 
scription; filled w4th sweet, fragrant flowers, and all 
kinds of game in never-ending abundance; where he 
may roam and hunt at will by the side of rivers of 
clear water, filled with the most beautiful fish. Such, 
they think, will be the future home of the good Indians. 
But, if an Indian is not good in their opinion, when he 
dies his soul is borne away on the wings of an evil 
spirit, to a land that is barren, wild, and desolate; 
where there is neither game nor fish. They seem, 
therefore,. to have some sort of wisdom in these mat- 
ters, even in their ignorance, that is far superior to 
some of the creeds and practices of their more-enlight- 
ened fellow men. I refer to Mormonism, Mohammed- 
anism, and such like. 

The Mormon obtains glory in a higher or lower 
deo-ree, accordino^ as he increases his chances by mar- 
rying additional wives, each new wife lifting him a step 
higher toward perpetual happiness. 



302 HOW I KNOW. 



O 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 
[ From "Western Wilds, by permission.*\ 

N a bright Sunday in June, 1876, while the nation 
was on the top wave of the Centennial enthusi- 
asm and the opening of the Presidential campaign, the 
news went flashing over the wires that General George 
A. Custer and all his command lay dead in a Montana 
valley, the victims of a Sioux massacre. With him had 
died his two brothers, his brother-in-law and a nephew; 
and of all that entered that battle not one white man 
survived. For a brief space there was hope that it 
might be a false report, but soon followed official 
papers which confirmed every ghastly detail of the first 
dispatches. For a few days the public sorrow overcame 
all other considerations; then, by natural revulsion, sor- 
row gave place to indignation, and that in turn to a 
fierce demand for investigation and a victim. The 
public must have a victim when there has been a mis- 
fortune. Then ensued a performance which was no 
credit to us as a nation. His opponents attacked Pres- 
ident Grant as the real cause of Custer's death; his 
friends foolishly defended the President by criticising 

*To the kindness of Mr. J. H. Beadle, author, and Messrs. Jones Brothers 
& Co., of Cincinnati, publishers, of that very able work, Western Wilds, 
I am indebted for this chapter on The Custer Massacre, and the following 
one on Where Shall ive Settle? w^hich I am sure my readers will find both 
very interesting and very valuable. The Author. 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 303 

Custer; the latter's friends in the army savagely at- 
tacked Major Reno and Captain Benteen as being the 
cause of the General's misfortunes, and thus the many- 
sided fight went on. Before stating any facts bearing 
on this issue, a brief sketch of General Custer's previous 
experience on the plains is in order. 

George Armstrong Custer was born at New Rum- 
ley, Ohio, December 5, 1839, and was consequently 
but thirty-seven years old at the time of his death. At 
ten years of age he went to live with an older sister in 
Monroe, Michigan, and ever after considered that place 
his home. There, on the ninth of February, 1864, he 
married Elizabeth, only daughter of Judge Daniel S. 
Bacon. He entered West Point as a cadet in 1857, 
and graduated four years after — away down in the 
list. Worse still, he was court-martialed for some 
minor breach of etiquette, and, badly as officers were 
needed just then, had some trouble in getting located 
in the army. But we long ago learned that rank at 
West Point by no means settles the officer's later 
standing in the army. Soon after graduating he was 
made Second Lieutenant, and assigned to Company 
"G," Second United States Cavalry, and arrived just 
in time to take a little part in the Bull Run batde and 
stampede. A little later he served on the staff of General 
Phil. Kearney, and early in the summer of 1862 was 
made full captain and aid-de-camp of General McClellan. 
And this contributed not a little to some of his trou- 
bles in after years, as he was an enthusiastic " McClellan 
man," and by no means reticent in his views. Ani- 



304 HOW I KNOW. 

mosities were excited during that controversy which 
were not settled till long afterward. 

Little by little Custer fought his way up, and the , 
last year of the war the country was charmed and ex- 
cited by the briUiant movements of Brigadier-General 
George A. Custer, of the United States Cavalry. After 
the war we almost lost sight of him. Except that Pres- 
ident Johnson took him, along with a few others, as 
one of the attractions of that starring tour, " swinging 
'round the circle," we hear no more of Custer till the 
army was reorganized in 1866, and he Avas once more 
a captain in the United States Cavalry, this time on the 
plains. But it was a different sort of army from that 
with which he had won his early honors. Language 
fails to portray the utter demoralization of our regular 
army from 1865 to 1869 or '70. All the really valua- 
ble survivors of the volunteer army had returned to 
civil life; only the malingerers, the bounty-jumpers, the 
draft-sneaks and worthless remained. These, with the 
scum of the cities and frontier settlements, constituted 
more than half the rank and file on the plains. The 
officers, too, had been somewhat affected by the great 
revolution. The old West Pointers were dead, or re- 
tired on half pay, or had grown to such rank in the 
volunteer army that they could not bear to drop back 
to their old position in the regular service. The offi- 
cers consisted of new men from West Point; of men 
who had been appointed from civil life or from the vol- 
unteer army, in most instances to oblige some poHti- 
cian; and a few men like Custer, to whom military life 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE, 



305 



was both a pleasure and a legitimate business. Deser- 
tion was so common among the private soldiers that it 
entailed no disgrace anywhere in the West. Hundreds 
enlisted simply to get transportation to the Rocky 
Mountains, and then deserted. When our wagon-train 
was on its way to Salt Lake in 1868, a deserter trav- 
eled with us two days, dressed in his military clothing, 
and without the slightest attempt at concealment. In 
this wretched state of the service in the West, Custer 
was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
put in command 
of the Seventh 
United States 
Cavalr}^ 

It was but 
nominally a 
cavalry regi- 
ment. The men 
were there, and 
the horses, with 
guns, equip- 
ments, an organization and a name; but as a cavalry 
regiment he had to make it, and he did it so well 
that it soon became the reliable regiment of the 
frontier. The new Colonel's career, for some time 
to come, was among the hostile Indians of Western 
and South-western Kansas — then the worst section 
of the Far West for Indian troubles. The tourist 
who glides rapidly and with such keen enjoyment 

through this region, by way of the Kansas Pacific 

20 




'GO WEST.' 



306 HOW I KNOW. 

or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Road, can scarcely 
conceive that but a few years have elapsed since it 
contained thousands of murderous savages; for it is 
a noteworthy fact that nothing so soon moderates 
the danofer of Indian attacks as a railroad. It seems 
that, even if no fighting is done, the mere presence of 
the road, with daily passage of trains, either drives the 
Indians away or renders them harmless. But in the 
early days the routes to the Colorado mines were 
raided at regular intervals. One year there would be 
almost perfect peace; the next a bloody Indian war. It 
seems to have been the policy of the Indians to behave 
well long enough to throw emigrants off their guard; 
then to swoop down and murder and plunder with im- 
punity. The region between the Smoky Hill and the 
Republican was particularly noted for bloody encount- 
ers. It was raided in turn by Sioux, Cheyennes and 
Arapahoes, and often by all three in concert. Every 
ravine and knoll on the route has its own local legend 
— the details, a blending of the ludicrous and horrible. 
Tradition relates that two bold settlers started for the 
mines in a time of profound peace, just after the In- 
dians had concluded a most solemn treaty and shaken 
hands over their promise to live in eternal peace with 
the whites; the settlers, in Western mirthfulness, paint- 
ing on their white wagon-cover the words, " Pike's 
Peak or Bust." A scouting party sent out from some 
post came upon them on the Upper RepubHcan, just 
in time to see the savages vanishing in the distance. 
The oxen lay dead in the yoke. Beside the wagon 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 



307 



were the corpses of the two settlers, transfixed with 
arrows. They had "busted/'' 

In 1864 the savages broke out worse than ever, car- 
rying off several women captive fi^om the settlements 
in Kansas. In 1865 there was a precarious peace; but 
in 1866 and '67 the Indians raided every part of the 
stage road. Meanwhile the noted "Chivington massa- 
cre" had occurred, and General P. E. Connor had, by 







'BUSTED 



extraordinary exertions, killed some Montana Indians; 
both events were seized upon by Eastern " human- 
itarians," and for a while they succeeded in completely 
paralyzing all portions of our army. And here it may 
be observed that our peculiar, tortuous, uneconomical 
and most unsatisfactory Indian policy, is the result of a 
certain conflict of forces highly liable to occur in a free 
republic. There is, first, a small but eminently respect- 



308 HOW I KNOW. 

able and powerful party, which is opposed to fighting 
the Indian at all, and think that he might be fed and 
soothed into keeping the peace; and that, at any rate, 
it would be cheaper to feed all the Indians to repletion 
than to fight them. And, as to this last point, they 
are emphatically correct. There is, next, a consider- 
ably larger number, mostly on the frontiers, who beheve 
in a war of extermination, but they have little or no 
poHtical influence. There are, also, the traders and 
agents, some honest and some otherwise, whose inter- 
ests are involved ; and the sensible middle class, who 
believe in keeping treaties with the Indians, and 
thrashing them if they break treaties. Of course, it 
sometimes happens that one of these parties is ahead, 
and then another. As a result, our poHcy is strangely 
crooked, inconsistent, and expensive. The Indian no 
sooner gets accustomed to one policy than another is 
adopted ; he has scarcely learned to trust one officer till 
another is in his place, who takes a mahcious pleasure, 
apparently, in undoing all that the former has done. 
This uncertainty entails frightful expense, both in treas- 
ure and life. But it is a difficulty inseparable, appar- 
ently, from our form of government. 

It is unnecessary to trace the causes which led to 
Hancock's campaign against the Indians in 1867. It 
was a formidable affair on paper, but accompHshed 
nothing. Our whole force consisted of eight troops of 
cavalry, seven companies of infantry, and one battery 
of artillery, the whole numbering 1,400 men. General 
Hancock, with seven companies of infantry, four of 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 309 

the Seventh Cavalry, and all the artillery, marched from 
Fort Riley to Fort Harper, and there was joined by 
two more troops of cavalry. Thence they marched 
southeast to Fort Larned, near the Arkansas. The 
hostile Indians, consisting of Cheyennes and Sioux, had 
appointed a council near by; but all sorts of difficul- 
ties seemed to arise to prevent their coming up to time. 
First, there was a heavy snow, although it was the 
second week in April; and the runners reported that 
the bands could not come. Then word came that they 
had started, but found it necessary to halt and kill some 
buffalo; and, again, that they had once come in sight, but 
were afraid on account of so many soldiers being present. 
Then General Hancock proceeded up the stream to 
hunt the Indian camp, and was met by an imposing 
band of warriors. Another parley ensued; midway be- 
tween the hostile forces Generals Hancock, A. J. Smith 
and others met Roman Nose, Bull Bear, White Horse, 
Gray Beard and Medicine Wolf, on the part of the 
Cheyennes, and Pawnee Killer, Bad Wound, Tall-Bear- 
that-walks-under-Ground, Left Hand and Little Bull 
and Little Bear, on the part of the Sioux. There was 
no fighting ; but after a few days more of excuses, the 
mounted Indians suddenly departed. Then it was dis- 
covered that the whole proceeding was but a well- 
played ruse to enable the Indians to get their women 
and children to a place of safety, and leave the warriors 
free for contingencies. The accomplished commanders 
of the American army had been tricked by a lot of dirty 
savages. Custer in the lead, pushed on with all possible 



310 



HO W I KNO W. 



speed after the Indians, but in vain. They had struck 
the stage stations on the Smoky Hill route, and mur- 
dered several persons; and the w^ar w^as begun. If 
ended decidedly to the advantage of the Indians. 

Custer's first experience in actual Indian-fighting 
was while escorting a wagon-train loaded with sup- 
plies from Fort Ellis. The Indians had selected for the 
fight a piece of ground well cut up with guUies — an 




Custer's first Indian fight. 

admirable system of " covered ways " — ^by which they 
hoped to get close up to the wagons without being 
discovered, and then make a charge. But the watch- 
ful eye of a scout discovered their plan, and brought 
on the conflict on ground more favorable to the whites. 
The train was simultaneously attacked on all sides by 
six or seven hundred well-mounted Indians, outnum- 
bering Custer's party twelve to one. The savages 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 311 

attacked in the manner known as " circling " — that is, 
riding round and round the whites, hanging on the 
opposite side of their horses so as to be shielded, and 
firing: over the animal's back and under his breast. The 
scout, Comstock, had predicted a long and obstinate 
battle: " Six hundred red devils ain't a goin' to let fifty 
men stop them from getting the sugar and coffee that's 
in these wagons." And they did not yield the prize as 
long as there was hope. The soldiers were located 
around the wagons in skirmish order. The Indians en- 
circled them in a much larger ring; but, though the fir- 
ing continued for hours, only a few Indians were hit, so 
difficult was it to take aim at the swiftly-flying horse or 
rider. All this time the train moved slowly on over the 
comparatively level prairie, the teamsters shivering with 
terror, and scarcely needing the command to " keep 
closed up — one team's head right against the next 
wagon." This fight lasted three hours, and had the 
Indians maintained it much longer, the soldiers would 
have run out of ammunition. But the savage scouts, 
posted all around on the highest points, gave warning 
that something was wrong; and soon the whole band 
ceased firing and galloped off. Five of them had been 
killed and several wounded. The cause of their sud- 
den retreat proved to be Colonel West's cavalry com- 
mand, which soon arrived. 

Custer's next anxiety was for Lieutenant Kidder 
and his party of eleven men, who were known to be 
moving across from the Republican to Fort Wallace, 
through a country now swarming with hostile Indians. 



312 HOW I KNOW. 

Soon after getting the supply train into camp, Comstock, 
the scout, was appealed to for his opinion as to Kidder's 
chances. It was far from encouraging. But Com- 
stock's reply to the officers contains some hints worth 
recording. Said he: "Well, gentlemen, there's several 
things a man must know to give an opinion. No man 
need tell me any pints about Injuns. Ef I know any- 
thing, it's Injuns. I know jest how they'll do anything, 
and when they'll take to do it; but that don't settle the 
question. Ef I knowed this young lootenint, ef I knowed 
what sort of a man he is, I could tell you mighty nigh 
to a sartainty all you want to know; for, you see, Injun- 
huntin' and Injun-fightin' is a trade all by itself; and, 
like any other bizness, a man has to know what he's 
about, or ef he don't, he can't make a livin' at it. I 
have lots o' confide^tce in the fightin' sense o' Red 
Beard, the Sioux chief, who is guidin' the lootenint, and 
ef that Injun can have his own way, there is a fair 
show for his guidin' 'em through all right; but, there 
lays the difficulty. Is this lootenint the kind of a man 
that is willin' to take advice, even if it does come from 
an Injun? My experience with you army folks has 
allays been that the youngsters among 3'e think they 
know the most; and this is 'specially true ef they've 
jist come from West Pint. Ef one o' 'em young fel- 
lers knowed half as much as they bleeve they do, you 
could'nt tell 'em nothin'. As to rale book larnin', why 
I spose they've got it all, but the fact of the matter is, 
they could'nt tell the difference 'twixt the trail of a war 
party and one made by a huntin' party to save their 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 



313 



necks. Half uv 'em, when they first cum here, can't 
tell a squaw from a buck, because they both ride strad- 
dle; but they soon larn. But that's neither here nor 
thar. I'm told that this lootenint we're talkin' about 
is a new-comer, and that this is his first scout. Ef 
that be the case, it puts a mighty unsartain look on the 
whole thing; and, 'twixt you and me, gentle/;/^//, he'll 
be mighty lucky ef he gets through all right. To-mor- 
row we'll strike the 
Wallace trail, and I 
can mighty soon tell 
whether he's gone 
that way." 

Next day the re- 
lief party, led by 
Custer, came on 
Lieutenant Kidder's 
trail, and after a brief 
examination Com- 
stock pronounced: 
"The trail shows 
that twelve American horses, shod all around, have 
passed at a walk; and when they went by this pint 
they war all right, because their horses are movin' 
along easy, and no pony tracks behind 'em, as would 
be ef the Injuns had an eye on 'em. It would be 
astonishin' for that lootenint and his layout to git into 
the fort without a skrimmage. He may^ but ef he 
does, it'll be a scratch ef ever there was one; and I'll 
lose my confi^^^;^^^ in Injuns." 




^^«i 



WESTERN SCOUT — WILD BILL. 



314 HOW I KNOW. 

Custer ordered the command to hurry up, and, fol- 
lowing the trail, they came, in a few hours, upon two 
dead horses with the cavalry brand, but stripped of all 
accoutrements. A little farther, and they saw that the 
American horses had been going at full speed, while 
all around Comstock pointed out the minute but abund- 
ant evidences that the Indians had fought them from 
all sides, the pony tracks being numerous. A little 
farther, and they entered the tall grass and thickets 
along Beaver Creek, and there saw several buzzards 
floating lazily in the air, while the trail was sprinkled 
with exploded cartridges and other debris. That told 
the tale. Nor were they long in finding the dead. The 
sight made the blood even of these brave men curdle. 
Lieutenant Kidder and his companions lay near to- 
gether, stripped of every article of clothing, and so 
brutally hacked and mangled that all separate recogni- 
tion was impossible. Every skull had been broken, 
every head scalped; the bodies were mutilated in an 
obscene and indescribable manner, and some lay amid 
ashes, indicating that they had been roasted to death. 
The scalp of Red Bead, the friendly Sioux, lay by his 
bod}^, as it is contrary to their rules to carry away the 
scalp of one of their own tribe; nor is it permitted 
among most Indians to keep such a scalp or exhibit it. 
The exact manner of their death cannot be known, but 
all the surroundings showed that they had fought long 
and well. Custer's command buried them on the spot 
where found, whence the father of Lieutenant Kidder 
removed his remains the followinof winter. 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 315 

Custer marched on to Fort Wallace with all possi- 
ble speed, but troubles multiplied. The soldiers had 
begun to desert. Forty men took "French leave" in 
one night! The next day thirteen men deserted in 
broad day, in full view of the command, seven mounted 
and six on foot. After a desperate run the latter were 
captured, two slightly and one mortally wouhded. It 
is to be noted that they were then in a region where 
the deserters apprehended no danger from Indians. 
Two men were killed by the Indians after all danger 
was thought to be past. From Fort Wallace the com- 
mand marched eastward to Fort Hayes. The w^ar 
was over and Custer applied for and obtained leave to 
visit, by rail. Fort Riley, where his family was then 
located; and for this, and other matters connected 
with that campaign, Custer was court-martialed! This 
proceeding appears to have been purely malicious, 
prompted by the dislike of some inferior officers over 
whom Custer had exercised pretty severe discipline. 
The charges were drawn by one w^hom he had severely 
reprimanded for drunkenness. He had left Fort Wal- 
lace without orders, because, under the circumstances, 
he thought proper to report to his commander in per- 
son. To this they added the fact that he went on to 
Riley to visit his family, and thus constructed a charge 
that he had abandoned his post for his private con- 
venience! Mean as this attack was, it "was successful. 
Custer was suspended from rank and pay for one year! 

Meanwhile another summer campaign was under- 
taken against the hostile Indians, w^ith equally barren 



316 HOW I KNOW. 

results. General Sully marched, in 1868, against the 
combined Cheyennes, Kioways and Arapahoes, whom 
he struck near the present Camp Supply. If this was 
a "drawn battle," that is the best that can be said of 
it. Sully retired, badly crippled, and made no further 
attempts. At the same time General "Sandy" For- 
sythe, with a company of scouts and plainsmen enlisted 
for the purpose, was hunting for the hostile Sioux on 
the Northern affluents of the Republican. He found 
them. They also found him. Of his total force of 
fifty-one men, six were killed and twenty wounded; 
all their horses were captured, and the command was 
only saved from annihilation by the arrival of re-in- 
forcements. The Noble Red Man evidently understood 
his business better than the Generals opposed to him. 
The people of Colorado grew sarcastic. Western 
people often do when mail and supplies are cut off 
for weeks at a time. It appeared that the mountain 
territories were in a fair way to be isolated from the 
rest of the country. California Joe, a scout who had 
been with several of the commanders, thus gave in his 
experience: 

" I've been with 'em when they started out after 
the Injuns on wheels — in an ambulance — as if they 
war goin' to a town funeral in the States, and they 
stood about as much chance o' ketchin' the Injuns as 
a six-mule train would 6' ketchin' a pack o' coyotes. 
That sort o' work is only fun for the Injuns; they 
don't want anything better. Ye ought to seen how 
they peppered it to us, and we doin' nothin' all the 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 317 

time. Some war afraid the mules war a goin' to stam- 
pede and run ofF with all our grub, but that war on- 
possible; for, besides the big loads of corn and bacon, 
thar war from eight to a dozen infantry men piled into 
every wagon. Ye'd ought to heard the quartermaster 
m charge o' the train tryin' to drive the men outen the 
wagons and git them into the fight. He was an Irish- 
men, and he sez to 'em: ^Git out of thim waggins. 
Yez 'ill have me tried for disobadience ov orders for 
marchin' tin men in a waggin whin I've orders but 
for eight.' " 

But the rude common sense of General Sheridan, 
soon after his arrival on the plains, put an end to sum- 
mer campaigning. He and Sherman united in asking 
for the restoration of Custer; and, on the 12th of No- 
vember, 1868, that officer, at the head of his command 
again, started out on his famous Washita campaign. 
Soon after the departure from Fort Dodge, on the 
Arkansas, the command was overtaken by a violent 
snow-storm; but this the commander thought all the 
more favorable to his plans. General Sheridan could 
only point out to Custer the neighborhood of the hos- 
tiles' camp, and leave all details to his judgment. With 
four hundred wagons, and a guard of infantry for them, 
and the Seventh Cavalry in fighting order, he pressed 
rapidly southward to the edge of the Indian country, 
where a camp was established for the wagons, as a 
base of supplies, and the cavalry pressed on. California 
Joe and other scouts accompanied the expedition, be- 
sides a small detachment of Osage Indians, headed by 



318 HOW I KNOW. 

Little Beaver and Hard Rope, who did excellent ser- 
vice. After a terrible winter march, the command, 
eight hundred strong, arrived at the bluff of the Washita 
at midnight, and saw below them, in the moonlight, 
the hostile camp. It was evident, at a glance, that the 
Indians trusted impHcitly in the old army habit of fight- 
ing them only in Summer. They had no scouts out, 
and were buried in repose. The command was divided 
into four nearly equal detachments; and, by making 
wide detours, the Indian camp was completely sur- 
rounded before daylight. The night was terribly cold, 
but no fire could be lighted, and the suffering was 
intense. As Custer stood upon the brow of the hill,, 
and peered through the darkness into the camp, he dis- 
tinctly heard the cry of an Indian baby, borne through 
the cold, still air, and reflected with pain that, under 
the circumstances, there was so much probability that 
the troopers' bullets would make no disti'uction of age 
or sex. Soon after daylight the attack was made. 
Although taken by surprise, the Indians fought des- 
perately, but were utterly routed. It practically an- 
nihilated Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes. A hun- 
dred and three warriors were killed; fifty-three squaws 
and children captured, eight hundred and seventy-five 
ponies taken and a vast amount of other property. Of 
the force, two officers and nineteen men were killed, 
three officers and eleven men wounded. In the very 
hour of victory Custer discovered that this was but one 
of a long Hne of villages, extending down the Wash- 
ita; but he had struck such terror that the others did 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 



319 



not gather force sufficient to attack, and he returned to 
camp in safety. 

And here it may be noted that, in plains' travel and 
fighting, there is no difficulty so great as dealing with 
the wounded. With all the appliances furnished our 




RUDE SURGERY OF THE PLAINS. 



army surgeons, there must still be many deficiencies; 
and, with the ordinary plainsman, a bad wound is 
either certain death or a long and terrible struggle, in 
which nothing saves the man but an iron constitution. 
In the old days a regular backwoods' science grew up 



320 HOW I KNOW. 

among trappers and voyageurs; they treated gunshot 
wounds and broken bones, extracted bullets and arrows, 
or amputated shattered limbs in a way that would have 
amazed the faculty, but was singularly successful. The 
camp-saw and a well-sharpened bowie-knife were their 
surgical instruments; their cauteries, hot irons; and 
their tourniquets, a handkerchief twisted upon the 
limb with a stick run through the knot and turned to 
press upon the artery. Arrows were often drawn 
through the limb, the feathers having been cut off; 
and bullets flirted out of an incision quickly made with 
a sharp razor. In winter the wounded limb was al- 
most frozen by snow or ice applied before the amputa- 
tion; in summer there was nothing for it but to suffer 
it through. An old voyageur^ with but one arm, gave 
me an account of his losing the other, which made my 
" each particular hair to stand on end." The arm was 
completely shattered below the elbow; it was amputa- 
tion or death, and the party was a thousand miles from 
any surgeon. But with knife, saw, and red-hot iron 
the job was skillfully done; he survived such rude 
surgery without a shock to his fine constitution. 

After a brief rest Custer was again sent to the 
Washita, where he alternately negotiated with and 
threatened the savages, until he had recovered some 
captives they held, and located the Indians near the 
forts. And here originated the difficulty between him 
and General W. B. Hazen, then in charge of the southern 
Indians — Custer maintaining that Satanta's and Lone 
Wolf's bands of Kioways had been in the fight against 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 321 

him, Hazen denying it. " It was six years before the 
matter was settled, Hazen producing unquestionable 
evidence that he was right. We find evidences, from 
time to time, that Custer was somewhat hasty in his 
judgments, and very impulsive in giving utterance to 
them — in short, that he had some of the faults as well 
as all the virtues of a dashing, impetuous man. 

For two years there was peace on the plains; but 
in the spring of 1873, the first Yellow Stone expedition 
went out. From Yankton the Seventh Cavalry, with 
Custer in command, marched all the way to Fort Rice, 
six hundred miles, Mrs. Custer and other ladies accom- 
panying the column on horseback. There the ladies 
halted; but it was not until July that the entire expedi- 
tion started — cavalry, infantry, artillery and scouts, 
numbering seventeen hundred men — all under com- 
mand of Major-General D. S. Stanley. The main ob- 
ject was to explore the country, and open a way for 
the surveyors of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Cus- 
ter, as usual, was put in the lead, and soon after reach- 
ing the Yellow Stone had several skirmishes with the 
Indians, who were desperately resolved against the 
passage of a railroad through the country. If they 
could only have looked forward over the next year of 
the financial world they might have been spared all 
anxiety on that point. During this march the sutler 
and veterinary surgeon of the Seventh Cavalry were 
murdered by a Sioux called Rain-in-the-Face; and out 
of that matter grew the latter's hostility to Custer, and 

perhaps the latter's tragic death three years after. 

21 



322 HOW I KNOW. 

Early in 1874 began the memorable Black Hills ex- 
pedition, an undertaking that began in the grossest in- 
justice and ended in wholesale murder. From the first 
discovery in California, rumors had constantly prevailed 
of great gold placers in the Black Hills, but the region 
was a mystery. The Warren Expedition, in 1857, had 
gone around the whole district, but the Sioux emphat- 
ically prohibited them from entering it, stating that it 
was sacred ground. Other expeditions proved that the 
region was a great oval, about a hundred by sixty 
miles in extent, cut up by numerous low mountain 
ranges covered with timber; that it possessed, as do all 
such mountainous regions, a more rainy climate than 
the plains, and scores of little valleys of great fertility. 
It is obvious from the lay of the country, that the re- 
gion cannot contain any great area of agricultural land, 
but quite probable that it abounds in good mountain 
pastures and timbered hills. The tenacity with which 
the Sioux clung to it onl}^ the more convinced the 
Westerners that it contained gold by millions, and many 
were the exciting stories told. The treaty of 1868 con- 
firmed it to Red Cloud and other chiefs in person in 
Washington, and the Black Hills were declared inviola- 
ble — a section of the Indian reservation never to be 
trespassed upon by white men. The Custer expedition 
of 1874 was undertaken in direct violation of that treaty, 
and upon the half-avowed principle that treaties were 
not to be kept with Indians, if whites needed the 
country in question. Consistent with this ill-faith the 
expedition was made the occasion of ridiculous exag- 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 323 

geration, not to say downright falsehood. Correspond- 
ents were sent along with descriptive powers suited to 
an earthly Eden, and they described one; explorers 
went to find gold by millions, and they found it. The 
country needed a sensation, and the Government took 
the contract of supplying it. When the expedition had 
returned, and the brilliant correspondents had made 
their report. General Hazen undertook to moderate pop- 
ular enthusiasm by portraying the high plains as they 
generally are; but the public rejected him, and found 
in his testimony only another evidence of his animosity 
to General Custer. The general result was, settlement 
of the Black Hills before the Indian title was extinguished 
and anothei' expensive and fruitless Indian war. 

The next year Rain-in-the-Face, a noted brave of 
the Uncpapa Sioux, was arrested for the murder of Dr. 
Honzinger and Mr. Bahran, of the Yellow Stone Expedi- 
tion of 1873. He was brought before Custer, thoroughly 
examined, and sentenced to death, but managing to 
escape, joined the hostile band of Sitting Bull, and sent 
word that he was prepared to take revenge for his im- 
prisonment. There is evidence, though not quite con- 
clusive, that this Indian gave Custer the death-blow. 
Here it is necessary to point out an important distinc- 
tion in the organization of different bands. The 
ordinary Indian government is patriarchal, and in 
many bands a majority of the famiHes are in some 
way related to the chief; but, though the chieftainship 
is nominally hereditary, its continuance in any line 
finally depends on the prowess of the claimant. If he 



324 HOW I KNOW. 

fails in any particular, another chief at once supplants 
him. Hence the absurdity of the plan generally adopted 
by our Government, of trying to choose chiefs for the 
Indians, or to recognize one rather than another. If 
the young men cannot have the leader they w^ant, they 
generally join the " hostiles." These bands are made 
up on an entirely different plan — by convenience rather 
than relationship. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, or some 
other active fighter, gets a reputation as war chief, and 
all the discontented braves join him; as a rule there 
are few women in such a band, and the number of men 
is, therefore, apt to be underrated on distant view. Still 
more distinct is a third class, commonly known as 
^'dog soldiers." These are outcasts or runaways from 
all the tribes, who get together in squads of from five 
to five hundred; sometimes they dissolve and melt into 
the original tribes; sometimes are merged into some 
one big tribe, or simply wear out. Their communica- 
tion at first is entirely by the " sign language ;" if to- 
gether long enough, a new Indian dialect arises from 
the jargon of so many tongues. It has occasionally 
happened that a large band of "dog soldiers" would 
capture women enough for their wants, conquer a ter- 
ritory for themselves, and in time grow into an entirely 
new tribe. Thus the Comanches, Arapahoes and 
Apaches are said to have descended from the original 
Shoshonees; while the Navajoes resulted from the 
union of part of the old Aztecs with an offshoot of the 
Shoshonees — or of the original Athabascan stock, from 
which the latter sprang. 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 325 

In 1876, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led the hostile 
Sioux, and to them rapidly gathered all the discon- 
tented young braves from the agencies. As near as 
can be determined, the latter chief began the season 
with eight hundred braves — the former with nearly 
twice as many. Their position was the best that mili- 
tary art could have selected. From it the affluents of 
the Yellow Stone ran northward; the lower affluents of 
the Missouri eastward; on the east and north it was 
doubly protected by the " bad lands ;" northwest and 
west were rugged mountains, and southward the high 
plains stretched for many hundred miles. Around the 
extreme outer edge of the hostile country, from north- 
west and north to north-east and east, ran the Mis- 
souri; on that stream were located all the agencies, and 
from them, through " friendly" Indians, went a constant 
stream of suppHes to the w^arriors. By careful exam- 
ination of the books (after the damage had been done), 
it was proved that these bands received in five months 
fifty-six cases of arms, containing one thousand one 
hundred and twenty Winchester and Remington rifles, 
and four hundred and thirteen thousand rounds of pat- 
ent ammunition, besides considerable quantities of loose 
powder, lead and primers. It takes many such lessons 
as this to convince the American people that this ma- 
chine we call government is the most awkward, ex- 
pensive and inefficient of all human inventions; and yet 
the lesson is not learned, for in spite of daily multiply- 
ing evidences of its inherent inefficiency, new parties 
start up every year, urging that government should run 



326 



HOW I KNOW. 



our schools and churches, our mills, mines and work- 
shops, our social, moral and industrial institutions. 
Daily is the lesson thrust upon us, that whatever gov- 
ernment does is done wrong; and daily we hear fresh 
demands that government should do things which it 
was never organized to do. The plain EngHsh of the 
foregoing figures is, that government first armed the 
savages with repeating rifles; then sent an inferior force 
to attack them on ground of their own choosing. 

Three columns were to 
proceed from three points 
and converge on the hos- 
tile region: Gibbon east- 
ward from Fort Ellis, 
Montana; Crook north- 
ward from Fort Fetter- 
man; and Terry westward 
from Fort Abe Lincoln, 
just across the Missouri 
^ from Bismarck, Dakota. 
Of course they could not 
start at the same time. General Crook, with seven 
hundred men and forty days' supplies, started the 
ist of March, and reached and destroyed the village 
of Crazy Horse, on Powder River, the 17th of March. 
But the Indians got away w^ith most of their ani- 
mals and supplies. The Gibbon column did not figure 
greatly till the junction with Terry on the Yellow 
Stone. Meanwhile the Terry column, in which Gen- 
eral Custer was the leading spirit, was delayed in a 




SCENE OF THE SIOUX WAR. 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 327 

score of ways. It could not start as early as that of 
Crook anyhow, as it was to move through a colder 
latitude, and, while waiting, Custer was summoned to 
Washington. The Belknap investigation was in prog- 
ress, and Hon. Heister Clymer, Chairman of the House 
Committee, got it into his head that Custer could give 
important information. In vain did Custer dispatch 
that he really knew nothing about the case, and Terry 
urge that his call to Washington would delay and im- 
peril the expedition. Clymer was all the more cer- 
tain Custer had important information, and should be 
brought before the committee and rigidly interrogated. 
On the 6th of March, Custer telegraphed a request 
that he might be examined at Fort Lincoln. This 
Clymer flatly refused. Custer had to go to Washing- 
ton, and there it was found that he really knew noth- 
ing about the case, and had only, as was natural to one 
of his impulsive nature, talked freely about what he had 
heard. But Heister Clymer had the satisfaction of 
compelling a General to come before his committee, 
and delaying Custer's march after Sitting Bull a whole 
month. Then President Grant took hold. The grim, 
impassive, hard-to-change General Grant took it into 
his head that Custer's talk about the case had been an 
intentional aflront to him — why, no one ever knew. 
He refused to see Custer, though the latter repeatedly 
called at the White House, and once sent in a card, 
asking in plain terms for a reconciliation. 

Custer then called at the office of General Sherman, 
only to learn that the latter was in New York, and 



328 HOW I KNOW. 

might not return for some time; then, on the night of 
May I, took the train for Chicago. Next day Sherman 
returned, and telegraphed to General Sheridan at Chi- 
cago, that Custer "was not justified in leaving here 
without seeing me (Sherman) or the President," and or- 
dered that Custer remain at Saint Paul till further orders. 
Somebody was evidently playmg sad havoc with Cus- 
ter's character and plans. He had, perhaps, talked too 
much — that was his fault, if any thing — but it is im- 
possible for the non-military mind to see any other 
harm he had done. He was in genuine distress. He 
telegraphed at length to General Sherman, and then to 
President Grant, and the final result was that, after a 
deal of red tape all around, he received permission to 
go with the expedition, in command of his regiment, 
the Seventh United States Cavalry. The Terry col- 
umn consisted of the Seventh Cavalry entire, three 
companies of the Sixth and Seventeenth Infantry, with 
four GatHng guns and a small detachment of Indian 
scouts, about eight hundred men in all. Gibbon 
was coming in from the west with four hundred men, 
and Crook had made another start from the south with 
fifteen hundred men. Thus there were twenty-seven 
hundred armed men, distributed on the circumference 
of a circle about three hundred miles wide, to con- 
centrate near the center where the hostiles were sup- 
posed to be. 

Crook first found the enemy. On the 8th of June, 
his force had a skirmish with the Sioux, and repulsed 
them. A week later his Indian scouts reported that 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 329 

they had seen Gibbon's command on the other side of 
the hostile Sioux, on the Tongue River. On the i6th 
Crook pushed rapidly forward toward the hostiles. 
Next morning Sitting Bull attacked his camp in great 
force and with astonishing vigor. It was not exactly 
a surprise, but all must agree that Crook gained no 
advantage, and that Sitting Bull handled his forces 
admirably. Twice during the action he succeeded in 
getting his warriors into positions where they poured 
an enfilading fire into Crook's command. Meanwhile 
Generals Terry and Gibbon had communicated, and 
the latter had shown, by thorough scouting, that the 
hostiles were as yet all south of the Yellow Stone. A 
glance at the map will show that the Powder, Tongue, 
Rosebud, and Big Horn, run north into the Yellow 
Stone, and the Little Horn into the Big Horn; and 
that, after these various scouts, it was certain the hos- 
tiles were somewhere on those streams. Accordingly 
Terry commenced scoutnig for them in that direction. 
So far the general plan had worked well; its defect 
now appeared to be that Gibbon and Terry were 
separated from Crook by at least a hundred miles of 
mountainous country, and that in that region some- 
where were the hostiles, in good position to move 
either way. The whole object of this plan w^as to pre- 
vent the Indians getting aw^ay without a fight, and as 
to that it was a perfect success. The contingency of 
the Indians being well prepared for a fight had appar- 
ently not been considered. 

Careful scouting narrowed the field, and finally it 



330 HOW I KNOW. 

was decided that the Indians were either at the head 
of the Rosebud or on the Little Horn, a ridge about 
fifteen miles wide separating the two streams. Terry 
and Gibbon, on the Yellow Stone, near the mouth of 
Tonofue River, then held a council, and decided that 
Custer's column should be pushed forward to strike 
the first blow. Crook was too far south to be consid- 
ered in this arrangement at all. The general plan is 
briefly stated in Terry's dispatch to General Sheridan, 
from the former's camp at the mouth of the Rosebud, 
just before the final movement, as follows: 

Traces of a large and recent camp of Indians have been discovered twenty 
or thirty miles up the Rosebud. Gibbon's column will move this morning on 
the north side of the Yellow Stone (see map), where it will be ferried across 
by the supply steamer, and whence it will proceed to the mouth of the Little 
Horn, and so on. Custer will go up the Rosebud to-morrow with his whole 
regiment, and thence to the head-waters of the Little Horn, thence down the 
Little Horn. 

The object, of course, was for Custer to head off the 
escape of the Indians toward the east, while Gibbon 
would move up the Big Horn and intercept them in 
that direction. It has been absurdly said that Custer 
disobeyed or exceeded the general orders he received 
from Terry; but, in fact, those orders were so very 
"general," that, aside from the instructions as to route 
and sending scouts to seek Gibbon, they might have 
been condensed to " Go ahead, do 3^our best; I trust all 
to you." Similar orders directed the march of Gibbon 
up the Big Horn. Should both columns march equally, 
all else being equal, it would result that they would 
come together on the Big Horn, some distance above 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 331 

(south) the junction of the Little Horn. There appears 
to have been no special order given as to rates of 
marching; and so far the witnesses do not agree very 
well as to what either commander was to do if he 
struck the Indians first. The reasonable supposition 
is, that it was understood beforehand that they were to 
fight on sight. It was hardly to be supposed that Sit- 
ting Bull would accommodate them by slowly retiring 
before either, until the other could come up in his rear. 
Custer's command received rations for fifteen days. 
Thus supplied, and thus directed with only general or- 
ders and plenary powers under them, Custer and his 
cavalry set out up the Rosebud on the afternoon of 
June 22, 1876, which is the last account we have from 
him in person. Thereafter his movements are known 
only by the report of Major Reno, who succeeded to 
the command of that section of the regiment which 
survived; the statements of various officers in the same 
command; the evidence of Curly, an Upsaroka scout, 
who alone survived the massacre, and some unsatisfac- 
tory accounts from the enemy. From all these sources, 
and a careful examination of the trails and battle- 
ground, the following facts are proved: 

On the 22d, Custer marched his command about 
twelve miles up the Rosebud, and encamped. On the 
23d, they continued up the Rosebud for about thirty- 
five miles, perhaps a little less. On the 24th, they ad- 
vanced rapidly twenty-eight miles, and, finding a fresh 
Indian trail, halted for reports from scouts. By night 
they had received full reports, and, about 9.30 p. m., 



332 HOW I KNOW, 

Custer called the officers together and informed them 
that the Indians were in the valley of the Little Horn, 
and that to surprise them they must cross over from 
one stream to the other in the night. Accordingly 
they moved off at ii p. m.; but, about 2 a. m. of the 
25th, the scouts gave notice that the command could 
not get across the divide before daylight; so halt was 
made, provisions prepared, and breakfast eaten. Right 
here, apparently, Custer's original plan failed. It would 
seem to have been his intention to repeat the Washita 
battle, and attack at sunrise. By 8 A. M., the command 
was nearing the Little Horn. Here the regiment was 
divided. Major Reno took command of companies M, 
A and G; Captain Benteen of H, D and K; Custer re- 
tained companies C, E, F, I and L, and Captain Mc- 
Dougall, with company B, was placed as rear-guard 
with the pack-train. As they moved down the creek 
toward the Little Horn, Custer was on the right bank, 
Major Reno on the left bank, and Captain Benteen 
some distance to the left of Reno, and entirely out of 
sight. As near as can be determined the command 
had marched some ninety miles since leaving Terry; 
but it is claimed by some that this last night and fore- 
noon march was much longer than reported. 

About noon they came in sight of the Indian camp, 
on the opposite side of the river, which at that point 
runs a little to west of north, with a considerable bend 
to the north-east. Enclosed within this bend, on the 
left (west) side of the stream, began the Indian camps, 
which continued thence a long way down the Little 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 



333 



Horn. As the command now enters the battle in 
three divisions, we must consider them separately. As 







')\S<^D^ 



/^-Nn^^va-**-'" 



GETTING THE FIRST SHOT. 



far as Custer's plan can be known, it was for Reno to 
cross, attack the upper end of the Indian camp, and 



334 HO W I KNO IV. 

drive them down stream, if possible; at any rate, to 
employ the warriors fully, while Custer himself, to be 
re-inforced by Benteen, should gallop around the bend 
of the Little Horn and down some distance, then cross, 
and attack from that side. It was evident that the 
time for a complete surprise was past. The last order 
Reno had from Custer was: "Move forward at as 
rapid a gait as you think prudent; charge afterwards, 
and the whole outfit will support you." Pursuant 
thereto, Reno with his command took a sharp trot for 
two miles down the stream to a convenient ford; then 
crossed, deployed with the Ree scouts on his left, and 
opened the battle, the Indians retiring before him about 
two and a half miles. And here comes in the first 
doubtful proceeding. Reno says: "I saw that I was 
being drawn into some trap. -J^- * * I could not see 
Custer or any other support, and at the same time the 
ground seemed to grow Indians. They were running 
toward me in swarms, and from all directions." He 
retired a little to a piece of woods, dismounted, had 
his men fight on foot, and advanced again. He says 
that the odds were five to one, and he saw he must 
regain high ground or be surrounded. Accordingly he 
remounted his men, charged across the stream, some 
distance below where he had crossed before, and hur- 
ried to the top of the bluff, losing three officers and 
twenty-nine men killed and seven men wounded in 
this operation. In fact, nearly his entire loss occurred 
in this retreat, men and horses being shot from behind. 
It would seem to a civilian, who has, perhaps, no right 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 335 

to criticize an Indian fight, that it would have been far 
cheaper, and more nearly in accordance with his orders, 
to stick to the woods on the west side, and fight it 
out for a few hours. The surgeon present says there 
was only one man wounded before Reno abandoned 
the timber. 

We turn now to Benteen. That officer, having 
been ordered to the extreme left while marchinor down 
the affluent toward the Little Horn, was necessarily 
several miles off* when the rest of the command turned 
to the right and down the Little Horn. Finding no 
Indians, he re-crossed the affluent and marched down 
the trail left by Custer. About three miles, as he says, 
from where Reno first crossed, he met a sergeant car- 
rying orders to Captain McDougall to hurry up the 
pack-train; a little further on he met Trumpeter Mar- 
tin with an order from Custer, written by Adjutant 
McCook, and the last he ever penned, which read: 
"Benteen, come on; big village; be quick; bring packs." 
About a mile further on he came in sight of the Lit- 
tle Horn, and saw Reno retreating up the bluffs. He 
also saw "twelve or fifteen dismounted men fiofhtinof 
on the plain, the Indians there numbering about nine 
hundred!" About 2.30 p. m., he came up to where 
Reno had gathered his forces on the right bluff*. The 
division of the regiment into three battalions was made 
at 10.30 A. M.; Benteen says that his scout and return 
to the main trail occupied about one hour and a half, 
bringing it to noon. How he consumed the time from 
then till 2.30 p. m., none of the reports inform us. The 



336 HOW / KNOW. 

distance traversed could not have been over five miles, 
if we can trust any thing to the military map. It also 
appears from the report that Boston Custer, brother of 
the General, had time to come to the rear and pack- 
train, get a fresh horse, and go back to Custer, passing 
Benteen, and be killed in the final slaughter. The 
reports by various survivors seem to leave us in 
isrnorance of much that we would like to know. 

It was now near 3 p. m., and as senior major, Reno 
had in command his own and Benteen's battalions, and 
the company guarding the pack-train: Companies A, 
B, D, G, H, K, and M, numbering 380 men, com- 
manded by Captains Benteen, Wier, French, and Mc- 
Dougall, and Lieutenants Godfrey, Mathey, Gibson, 
Edgerly, Wallace, Varnum and Hare. With them was 
Surgeon Porter. These officers are restrained, to a 
great extent, by military courtesy, but as far as their 
statements have been made public they indicate that 
there was no very determined effort made to aid Cus- 
ter. Major Reno waited on the bluff awhile (length 
of time not settled yet), then moved slowly down the 
stream, and sent Captain Weir with his command to 
open communication with Custer. Weir soon returned 
with the information that the Indians were coming en 
masse; and, in a little while after, Reno's force was 
furiously attacked. We learn at this stage of the 
report that it was now 6 p. m. It seems impossible to 
stretch any action of which mention is made so as to 
cover the time between three and six. And 3^et it 
appears from an examination of the grourrd, that Cus- 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 337 

ter could not, at three, have been more than three 
miles away. And, in the interim, the little squad of 
dismounted men whom Benteen saw across the river, 
had beaten off the Indians opposed to them and suc- 
ceeded in reaching Reno without loss! But Reno's 
command was attacked, as aforesaid, about 6 p. m.; 
held its ground with the loss of eighteen killed and 
forty-six wounded, and had the enemy beaten off by 
9 p. M. There is every evidence that Reno behaved 
with coolness and bravery, and Benteen with proper 
activity, during this battle; and still the report does 
not inform us as to the exercise of those qualities 
earlier in the afternoon. 

And where all this time was Custer? The trail, 
the heaps of dead, and the few accounts from eye-wit- 
nesses tell a plain story. He came at high speed to a 
ford of the Little Horn, which would have brought 
him about the middle of the Indian camps. But in 
this short space of time the Indians had vanquished 
Reno, and their whole force was there to oppose him. 
He gave back from the ford, and the Indians followed 
in overwhelming numbers. They were now on the 
way he had come, and he continued his retreat along 
the bluffs down the river. He had in his command 
but four hundred and twenty men, and the Indians 
must have numbered nearly two thousand. Who can 
tell the agony of that terrible retreat and last desperate 
struggle? When the command had reached a point 
nearly a mile from the ford, Custer evidently saw that 
a sacrifice was necessary to save, if possible, a rem- 

22 



338 HOW I KNOW. 

nant of his command. To this end he chose his 
brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Calhoun; with him 
was Lieutenant Crittenden, their company having been 
selected to cover the retreat. They were found in 
line all dead together, the officers in their proper places 
in the rear, the company having died fighting to the 
last man. 

A little further on another desperate stand was 
made. Then a mile from the scene of Calhoun's 
death, on the ridge parallel with the stream. Captain 
Keogh's company made a stand to cover the retreat. 
Keogh had evidently nerved himself for death. He 
was an old and able soldier. He was an officer in the 
Papal service when Garibaldi made war upon the Pope, 
and had served in the army of the Potomac during the 
war. Down went he and his company, slaughtered in 
position, every man maintaining his place and fighting 
desperately to the last. 

Custer, with the remnant of his command had taken 
up his position on the next hill. Curly, the L^psaroka 
scout, tells us that he ran to Custer, when he saw that 
the command was doomed, and offered to show him a 
way of escape. General Custer dropped his head, as 
if in thought, for one moment, then suddenly jerking 
it up again he stamped his foot, and, waving Curly 
away with his sword, turned to rejoin his men. In 
that brief interval of thought he had decided to die 
with his men rather than attempt to escape. There 
had been a short lull in the fight, while the Sioux were 
maneuvering for a better position. The firing now 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 



339 



re-commenced with more fury than ever. Curly 
dashed into a ravine, let down his hair so as to re- 










FIGHTING HAND TO HAND. 



semble a Sioux as much as possible, mounted a horse, 
and joined in the next charge; but watched his oppor- 



340 HOW I KNOW. 

tunity to put on a Sioux blanket, and in the heat of 
the battle slipped away. 

Custer had now made his last stand. It was on 
the most commanding point of the ridge; and there, 
with Captain Yates, Colonel Cook, Captain Custer, Lieu- 
tenant Riley, and thirty-two men of Yates' command, 
he fought desperately to the last. One by one his 
companions fell around him. Nearer and nearer came 
the Sioux, like hounds baying a lion, dashing around 
and firing into the command on all sides. Finally, the 
whites made a sort of barricade of their dead horses, 
and again for a few minutes held the savages at bay. 
Then Rain-in-the-Face, bravest Indian in the North- 
west, gathered his most trusty followers for a hand-to- 
hand charge. Custer fought like a tiger. With blood 
streaming from half a dozen gaping wounds, he killed or 
disabled three of the enemy with his saber, and when 
his last support was gone, as he lunged desperately at 
his nearest enemy, Rain-in-the-Face kept his oath and 
shot the heroic commander dead. 

But the battle was not over. Captain Custer and 
Captain Smith tried to cut their way back to the river, 
and in the ravine leading that way twenty-six men 
were found dead. The heroic remnant made their last 
stand near the river, and there every man was found 
dead in position, every officer in his place, every wound 
in front. The awful tragedy ended with the day. 
General Custer lay dead on the hill. Beside him lay 
Colonel Tom Custer, who enlisted as a private at six- 
teen, was an officer at nineteen, and had been twice 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 341 

decorated for bravery in action. In the same slaughter 
died two more of the family. Boston Custer, forage- 
master of the Seventh Cavalry, had sought the open- 
air life of the plains to ward off a tendency to con- 
sumption, which early manifested itself. He avoided a 
lingering death by a heroic exit, fit subject for epic 
poem or thrilHng romance. And there was young 
"Autie" Reed, a mere boy, named after General Cus- 
ter himself, his nephew, son of the older sister, who 
had, in fact, reared the General. It was cruel that he, 
too, should die in this fearful massacre. Autie was 
just out of school, and was eager to go on the plains 
"with Uncle Autie." To please the lad Custer had 
him and a class-mate appointed herders, to drive the 
cattle accompanying the column. He had come with 
his uncle on this last scout, and here met with his death, 
equally brave with the bravest. Lieutenant James 
Calhoun, the remaining member of this relationship, 
had married Maggie E. Custer, the General's only 
sister, in 1872; and in every emergency showed him- 
self worthy of adoption into this brave family. Cheered 
on by his voice, every man of his company died in 
place. With him was Lieutenant Crittenden of the 
Twelfth Infantry, a mere boy, just appointed, but cool 
as a veteran through all the terrible scene. A whole 
brotherhood of brave officers were cut off; for Custer 
had gathered around him a circle of choice spirits, who 
admired his dash, and emulated his bravery. There was 
the Adjutant, Col. Wm. W. Cook, a Canadian by birth, 
who had enlisted in the Twenty-fourth New York 



342 HOW I KNOW. 

Cavalry at the beginning of the war, and risen to be 
its Colonel. And Captain Yates, who enlisted as a 
private at sixteen and worked his way up. They used 
to call his company the "band-box troop," they were 
so neat in their dress and equipments; but every man 
of them died at his post. The last commander of all 
was Captain Algernon E. Smith, who won renown at 
the storming of Fort Fisher; was wounded, and for 
his bravery made brevet Major. But, perhaps, the 
s-addest loss of all was that of Lieutenant William Van 
W. Riley. He was of heroic stock. His father, an 
officer in the navy, went down with his ship in the 
Indian Ocean a short time before William was born. 
He left his widowed mother for this expedition, and 
died in company with all the brave men who then made 
their last fight. The night fell upon all these brave offi- 
cers and three hundred men, lying dead upon the field. 
A full history of the battle is not yet known. This 
I say, despite the fact that military reports have been 
made by the commanders, and published by authority. 
But they leave much unknown. In a quiet way there 
has been much crimination and re-crimination; one 
party has accused Reno and Benteen of cowardice or 
disobedience; the other, including General Grant, has 
charged that Custer exceeded his orders and sacrificed 
his command. Without adopting the extreme view 
of either side, this would seem to a civiHan about the 
correct state of the case: The regiment attacked a 
force of Indians outnumbering the soldiers two or 
three to one, and well armed, ready for fight, well 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 343 

posted, in broad day, when me-n and animals were 
fatigued, and so insured defeat; then, Reno and Ben- 
teen, seeing that retreat was a certainty, thought best 
to keep out of the fight, perhaps supposing that Custer 
would, in like manner, retreat after a brief skirmish. 
I cannot see that victory would have been possible in 
any event — no matter if the whole force had attacked 
at once, as originally intended. 

This disaster, of course, spoiled the original plan. 
General Gibbon came up with re-inforcements, and the 
Indians moved. Successive minor battles and skir- 
mishes followed, by which, though no one great victory 
was gained, the hostiles were slowly worn out and 
scattered. Many of the braves made their way back 
to the agencies, others retreated to less accessible posi- 
tions in the mountains, and Sitting Bull, with a remnant, 
retreated into British America, whence, at this writing, 
negotiations are pending to have him removed. The 
war in that section is dying out, but a few words addi- 
tional may be appropriate of the Indians in general. 
A glance at a map of Aboriginal America will show 
that very few of the Indian nations have retained their 
original locations; but it must not be judged therefrom 
that numerous tribes have become extinct. The Indian 
population of this country, at the landing of Columbus, 
has been greatly exaggerated. It is demonstrable that 
all that part of the United States east of the jNIissis- 
sippi never contained a half million of Indians; some 
authorities say a quarter of a million. It is apparent, 
at a glance, that a country like Ohio will sustain four 



344 HO W I KNO W. 

hundred times as many people in the civilized as in the 
savage state. When men live upon game and the 
spontaneous products of the earth, it must be a fer- 
tile land indeed, which will sustain an average of one 
person to the square mile. When we pass to the 
Indian of the plains the original population was sparser 
still. But there we find some of the races on the soil 
where first discovered. The Sioux have steadily con- 
tracted their eastern border, while maintaining their 
western border intact. But if, leaving history, we take 
tradition, we find that the Indian tribes have been 
engaged for centuries in a series of migrations, the 
northern ones, as a rule, slowly pushing southward. 
As all our mountain chains run north and south, it 
follows that the people of this country cannot grow 
into distinct races as in Europe, where different cli- 
mates and soils are partitioned off by natural barriers. 
Hence the Indian, from Manitoba to the Gulf of Mexico 
is one; hence, too, half a million men of the West 
rose in arms to prevent the mouth of the Mississippi 
being " held by an ahen government." Of the Indian 
migrations, the best authenticated are those of the 
Shoshonees and Sioux, which are referred to in the 
following legend, as related to the interpreter by Susu- 
ceicha, a Sioux chief: 

"Ages past the Lacotas (or Dakotas, /. e,, Sioux) lived 
in a land far above the sun of winter. 

" Here, then, the Shoshonee had all, but these basins 
were yet full of water, and the buffalo ranged even to 
Salt Land (Utah). 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 345 

"Ages passed. The Shoshonees gave place to the 
Scarred Arms (Cheyennes). The Lacotas came toward 
the sun and fought long with the Scarred Arms. A 
great party came far into the inner plain (Laramie) 
and fell into a snare; all were killed by the Scarred 
Arms but six; these hid in a hole in the mountain. 

"They built a fire and dressed their wounds; they 
hoped to stay many days till the Scarred Arms left 
the plain. But a form rose from the dark corner of 
the cave; it was a woman — old as the red mountain 
that was scarred by Waukan. Her hair was like wool; 
she was feeble and wrinkled. She spoke: 

" ^ Children, you have been against the Scarred 
Arms. You alone live. I know it all. But your 
fire has waked me, and the full time of my dream has 
come. Listen: 

" ' Long ago the Shoshonees visited the Lacotas; 
the prairie took in the blood of many Lacota braves, 
and I was made captive. The Shoshonees brought 
me here, but I was not happy. I fled. I was wxak. 
I took refuge in this cave. 

"^But look! Where are the Shoshonees? The 
Lacotas will soon know them, and bring from their 
lodges many scalps and medicine dogs. They have 
fled before the Scarred Arms. One-half crossed the 
snow hills toward sunset; the other went toward the 
sun, and now hunt the buflalo east of the Ispanola's 
earth lodges. But my eyes were sealed for ages till 
my people should come. The Scarred Arms have 
long thought this land their own, but it is not. Wau- 



346 HO W I KNO W. 

kantunga gives it to the Lacotas; they shall possess the 
land of their daughter's captivity. But why w^ait ye? 
Go, gather your warriors and attack the Scarred Arms. 
Fear not, their scalps are yours.' 

" The warriors did return. They found the Scarred 
Arms at the foot of the mountain, and drove them 
to the South. Our grateful braves then sought the 
mountain to reverence the medicine woman, who told 
them so many good things. But woman and cave 
were gone. There was only a cleft in the mountain 
side from which came a cold stream of water. Then 
the Lacotas made peace with the Scarred Arms. 
Each year our warriors visit the Shoshonees for scalps 
and medicine dogs, and each of our braves, as he 
passes the old woman's spring, stops to quench his 
thirst and yield a tribute of veneration." 

The Shoshonees not only have a legend answering 
to this, but name the various times when the Coman- 
ches, Arapahoes, and Apaches seceded from the main 
body. Thus, this great colony of the Athabascan 
race, slowly moving southward, has sent off branches 
right and left, from the Saskatchewan to the Rio 
Grande and Gulf of California. 

It would surprise some people who have been 
indignant over the death of Custer and his companions 
to learn how small, comparatively, is the number of 
hostile Indians. A strip of five hundred miles wide, 
from the Missouri to the Pacific, is rarely visited by 
hostiles; and at no time, for the past ten years, have 
more than one-fifth of the race been in arms or even 



THE CUSTER MASSACRE. 347 

threatening. All the border States, except Texas, are 
free from hostiles. Of the nine Territories, only three 
have been seriously troubled since 1867, and the three 
Pacific States have had even a longer exemption. Within 
that time Indian hostilities have been confined to three 
districts. First, and greatest, is that strip of mountain, 
forest, and desert, including all Northern Wyoming, 
South-eastern and Eastern Montana, and a small por- 
tion of Western Dakota. Next are the highlands of 
Western Texas, raided by the Comanches and their 
allies; and, lastly, that part of Nev^ Mexico and Ari- 
zona dominated by the Apaches. To judge how con- 
temptible a performance an Indian war is, how small 
the glory in proportion to the aggravation, be it noted 
that the whole Apache race numbers less than eight 
thousand, and cannot possibly mount two thousand 
warriors. 

If it be decided that the three hundred thous- 
and Indians in the United States (or rather the two 
hundred thousand wild ones) are to " die oftV then by 
all means let a "feeding poHcy" be pursued; it is so 
much cheaper to kill them by kindness than by war. 
Since i860 the average cost of killing Indians has 
been about five hundred thousand dollars each. One- 
tenth of that amount would stuff one to death. If, I 
say, the theory of final extermination be adopted, the 
most Christian and, by all odds, the cheapest plan 
would be this: Let central depots be estabHshed along 
the Pacific Railway and at other accessible points, and 
give general notice that every Indian who will come 



348 HOW T KNOW. 

there and live shall have all the bread, meat, coffee, 
sugar, whisky and tobacco he can consume. The last 
man of them w^ould be dead in ten years, and at a cost 
not exceeding twenty per cent, of the killing price. 
Since the Mormons began the feeding policy with their 
nearest Indian neighbors, the latter have died off much 
more rapidly than when at war. They can't stand 
petting any more than a rabbit. 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 349 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE? 
[From "Western Wilds, by permission.1 

FIVE million Americans are asking this question. 
They will take Greeley's advice and go West; 
but are as yet undecided as to locality. Let us, there- 
fore, briefly note the good and bad features of various 
sections. Imprimis^ then, there is no paradise in the 
West; no region where one will not find serious draw- 
backs in climate, soil or society. 

If you like a middle northern cHme, there is no 
better place than southern Minnesota and the adjacent 
parts of Dakota. These have one great advantage 
over northern Iowa: the vacant land is still in the 
market at government prices; in Iowa it has been 
granted too extensively, and railroads and speculators 
own too much of it in large bodies. In the long run 
they lose money by holding it in this way; they would 
do well to sell and invest elsewhere; but they have not 
found that out yet. By and by the residents will learn 
how to make non-resident land pay all the taxes, as it 
now pays quite half, and then the speculators will sell 
cheap; but at present it would be advisable to locate 
where there is not so much non-resident land. The 
arguments now so common against these grants apply 
only to the border States; all the land given to the 
railroads west of longtitude loo, was not worth one 



350 HOW I KNOW. 

day's debate in Congress. The income from it will 
never pay interest at a dollar an acre. The climate of 
Minnesota may be divided thus: summer, four months; 
winter, five months; spring and autumn, six weeks 
each. In fact, it is less than six weeks from the end 
of the snowy season to the coming of early fruits; but 
they call it spring the first of April, though the snow 
be six inches deep. 

The quickness of vegetation is amazing. In August, 
along the Blue-Earth River, one can scarcely believe 
he is not in a tropical country; the heavy forests of 
lynn and walnut, the groves of sugar maple supporting 
a dense leafy mass, the dark green vistas and rich natural 
parks, with the rank grass on the prairies seem out of 
place so far north. By November this gives way to 
snow, which remains till April first or tenth. It then 
seems to disappear all at once. The black sandy soil 
dries out thoroughly in a week; but the air is still cool 
enough to justify an overcoat, and for a fortnight there 
are only brown plains and gray woods, with no hint 
of dawning life. A few days of warmth, and there is 
a swelling and fluttering perceptible on the bosom of 
Nature; then grass, bush, branch and vine spring 
quickly into living green, and in one month tropic 
luxuriance succeeds wintry death. But September 
clothes this region in its most attractive dress. The 
frost turns one thicket purple, another bright red or 
golden yellow, while the large timber is still green; 
through the glades blows the cool and stimulating air, 
and over all is the soft blue sky of the Garden State. 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE, 



351 



The advantages of this country are: abundant tim- 
ber and running water, regular and exceedingly health- 
ful climate, fertile soil, freedom from droughts and 
freshets, and land of excellent quaUty still to be had at 




WINTER IN THE MINNESOTA PINERIES. 

reasonable rates. Its disadvantages: a long cold winter 
and occasional liability to grasshoppers — the latter, 
however, very rare. The vegetable productions are re- 
markable, though report sometimes exaggerates. Tra- 



352 HOW I KNOW. 

dition tells of one Minnesota Granger, who happened 
to be examining a cucumber just as the season of rapid 
growth set in. As he backed out to give it room, the 
growing vine followed him so rapidly that he took to 
his heels, but was soon overtaken. It grew all around 
him, tangled up his legs, and threw him down. Reach- 
ing in great haste for his knife to cut himself loose, 
he found that a cucumber had gone to seed in his 
breeches pocket. 

The adjoining part of Dakota has similar climate 
and soil, but two disadvantages: there is less timber 
and more wind. But land is much cheaper. Hun- 
dreds of sections in every county can still be had at 
Government rates; and in the older settlements im- 
proved farms can even now be bought very cheap. 
Timber grows rapidly, and all the old settlers assure 
me they soon grow accustomed to the wind. I have 
noticed in all my western wanderings that the regions 
of abundant wind are those most free from malaria. 
The only exception, if it is one, is in the Indian Terri- 
tory, where there is wind enough, and yet much com- 
plaint on the score of fever and ague. Despite my 
experience with the high winds of Dakota, I am in- 
clined to set down as fabulous the statement sometimes 
made by the envious, that an old Dakotian cannot talk 
if the wind suddenly stops blowing. So used to it, 
you know. 

Iowa I have already described at some length. I 
cannot get rid of the impression that the northern part 
of it is colder than the neighboring part of Minnesota. 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 353 

There is less timber, and the wind has a fairer fling at 
a man. Artificial groves grow rapidly, and the soil is 
of great fertility. And, if you find there is too much 
non-resident land in your vicinity, you can help your 
good neighbors stick the taxes on it till the owner is 
willing to sell for whatever he can get. I have a 
friend who has paid $620 taxes in ten years on a 
quarter section of Iowa land, and is now ready to sell 
to some man who owns a gold mine or a spouting oil- 
well. We have all heard of the man who ate so much 
it made him poor to carry it. Similarly, some people 
own so much western land, that it will break them up 
to keep it. The settlers do not intend that non-resi- 
dents shall get the benefit of their hard-pioneering — 
and- who shall blame them? 

Let us go a little further south. Northern Nebraska 
I know but little about, but in the southern part of that 
State is a region which seems to me peculiarly inviting 
to men from the Middle Northern States. " South 
Platte,'' as this division is called, contains at least 
twenty-five thousand square miles of fertile land, of 
which one-half or more is for sale quite cheap. The 
climate is perceptibly milder than that of "North 
Platte," and all the fruits and grains of the temperate 
zone are produced on a generous soil. Along the line 
of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, land is 
held at high rates; but in the rest of the country it can 
be bought at from five to eight dollars per acre. 
There is no government land in this section worth 
naming. The cHmate is about like that of central 

23 



354 HOW T KNOW. 

Ohio, with dryer winters and more wind. This last 
you may retain as a general statement as to all the 
border States. Society is most excellent. The popu- 
lation is intelligent and progressive, and nowhere does 
a man find himself out of reach of the church and 
school-house. Going westward on any line one will 
find the winters growing dryer, also more " airish." So 
the doubting emigrant may ask himself " whether 'tis 
nobler in a man to suffer" cold healthful winds, to 
have dry roads and freedom from mud; or take refuge 
in the wooded regions of Indiana or Missouri, avoid 
the winds and suffer the other evils. 

We now turn to a region more affected by men 
from the middle latitudes. In many weeks' travel be- 
tween the Des Moines and Arkansas, one-fifth or more 
of those I met were from Ohio, and nearly all of them 
had sought this region since the war. Kansas, like 
Nebraska, is divided into northern and southern — this 
by the Kaw, that by the Platte. North-eastern Kansas 
is already an old country; Donivan County was pretty 
well settled twenty years ago. A hundred miles w^est 
of the Missouri land can still be had at reasonable 
rates, but I have never visited that section. When we 
come to southern Kansas an inviting field, indeed, is 
open to us. Good land is cheaper to-day than it was 
five years ago. This I happen to know from painful 
personal experience. But it don't follow that it will be 
cheaper still five years from now. Surely "the bot- 
tom" is reached by this time. In the second tier of 
counties, including Anderson, Allen, Neosho and La- 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



355 



bette, the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Rail- 
road Company have large tracts of good land for sale; 
and private owners a still larger amount. 

This region boasts of many advantages: a mild 
climate, soil of rare fertility, timber sufficient for all 
ordinary purposes, rock in abundance, and easy com- 
munication with the rest of the world. Society is un- 
surpassed by that of any section, east or west. 
Churches and school-houses are within convenient 
reach of every 
section of land. 






and a man can 

not settle in so 

wild a spot that ^ 

the mail will 

not bring him 

late papers at 

least twice 

a week. For 

seven years this 

region was 

blessed with droughty kansas. 

good crops; then came the "bad year" of 1874, when 

drought, chintz-bugs and grasshoppers in succession 

desolated the land. In Allen County large streams 

dried to beds of dust, the fish literally parching on the 

rocks; and pools and springs disappeared which the 

oldest inhabitants had considered perennial. In 1875 

nature resumed her wonted courses; but the people 

had been too poor to sow wheat, and the country re- 




356 HOW I KNOW. 

mained in a condition of general poverty. But such a 
crop otherwise I had never seen. There were miles 
on miles of cornfields, yielding from forty to eighty 
bushels per acre, and for sale at twenty cents per 
bushel; tens of thousands of tons of hay, worth two 
dollars per ton in the stack; potatoes by milHons, and 
more feed than the stock could eat. And there was 
the trouble. The people had not a sufficiently diversi- 
fied industry. They had relied almost entirely on the 
sale of grain, and this year there was no sale, and they 
remained poor despite their immense crops. I came 
down from the mountains on a visit just after the last 
grasshoppers had left, and a rural wag gave me this 
dialect picture of his experience with them: 

"You see I bought early in '72 — give two thousand 
two hundred dollars for two hundred and fortv acres. 
Could a bought the same for half that two years after; 
can buy good land right alongside o' mine now for a 
V an acre. Been a deal o' cramp in real estate in this 
country. Well, nobody ever makes a crop the first 
year in a prairie country — think themselves in luck to 
get fences built and sod broke. I bought a hundred 
sheep — two blooded rams and the rest common ewes 
— and put all the rest of my money in improve- 
ments. Raised a little corn and oats in 1873, and put 
thirty acres of the new land, sod broke in 1872, into 
wheat and went to work with a hurrah in 1874 to 
make a God-awful crop. Ever3^thing come a booming, 
and I thought I had the world in a sling. Corn, oats, 
potatoes and wheat just got up and laughed; they 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 357 

grew so fine. Thought I never saw such a country 
for things to grow. Worked all the week, and used 
to set on the fence Sunday and calculate how rich I'd 
be. Went out one fine sunny morning about the first 
of June, and thought, by jiminy, the whole ground was 
a moving. Ten milHon hoppers to the square yard — 
all chawin' away as if the country belonged to 'em. 
Saturday morning they come into my farm from a 
ridge just south o' me — Sunday noon there wasn't a 
green thing where the corn, cane and potatoes had 
been. Job's luck wasn't a circumstance. My corn lot 
looked as if forty bands of wild Arabs had fell onto it. 
Not a smidgeon left — just bodaciously chawxd up and 
spit out. 

"Well, of course, I had the dumps. But I rallied. 
^All right,' says I; ' got wheat and tobacco left anyhow.' 

Professor P said they wouldn't eat tobacco; but 

he's a fraud, sir — a barefaced fraud. The hoppers 
just went up on a ridge north of me and shed their 
second coats, and then come back on the tobacco. 
They eat every leaf clean to the ground, then dug up 
the roots and set on the fence and cussed every man 
that come along, for a chaw. About that time they 
got wings, and sudden as could be rose in the air and 
went off north a whirhn', like a shower o' white and 
yellow paper bits. ^AU right,' says I; they've left my 
wheat anyhow.' Singular enough they didn't touch 
it; it was on t'other side the place, and out o' their 
track. Well, I ralUed again, and counted on six hun- 
dred bushels o' wheat — and wheat's the money crop in 



358 HOW I KNOW. 

this country. About June the middle, I noticed all at 
once that my wheat looked kind o' sick. Come to 
examine, sir, it was completely lined with a little, mis- 
erable, black and yellow, nasty-smelling bug. I took 
some to a man 'at had been here ten years. ' Neigh- 
bor/ says he, ^you're a goner; them's chintz-bugs, and 
every head o' that wheat that an't cut, '11 be et up in 
forty-eight hours.' Well, it was Sunday morning, and 
the wheat nothing like ripe; but it was a chance, and 
I got onto my reaper and banged down every hoot of 
it before Monday night. It cured in the sun and the 
bugs left it, and out o' the lot I got just a hundred and 
forty bushels o' shrunk-up stuff. It was a hundred and 
forty bushels more than any o' my neighbors got. 
You bet there was improved farms for sale in that 
neighborhood. My sheep had done well, and that was 
all I was ahead. Taking it by and large, the only sure 
crop is sheep." 

He touched the right point in the last sentence; 
this is the country for stock-growing. Corn and hay 
can be produced so cheaply that the cost of bringing 
a full-grown ox into market is less than half what it 
would be in Ohio. The best of unimproved land, near 
the railroad, sometimes sells as high as twelve dollars 
per acre; from that it ranges down to four. In 1875 
the surplus crop of the State was worth twelve mil- 
lion dollars. The report, for that year, showed that 
the corn raised in the State, if shelled and put in box- 
cars, would have loaded a train sixteen hundred miles 
long! 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



859 



The Indian Territory is much talked of, but I would 
not advise any one to go there with a view to perma- 
nent settlement. Government cannot open the land to 
immio-ration without a shameful breach of good faith, 
and for one, as an humble citizen, I protest against it. 
There is such an abundance of good land elsewhere, 
that we can afford to leave this to the civilized Indians 

for the next fifty years. 
Then their progress 
will have been such 
that they will them- 
selves throw it open 
and invite white set- 
tlers. Texas, just 
south of it, offers a 
far better £eld. Dallas 
is the center of a re- 
gion two hundred 
miles square, which of- 



fers great inducements 
to Northern men. The 
v^ i n t e r s are sharp 
enough to insure 
health and energy; and the summers are not, as far 
as I could observe, any hotter than in Minnesota. 
Land through all this section can be had at from four 
to eight dollars per acre. There are now Congres- 
sional lands in Texas; it is all State land. This comes 
of the State having been an independent republic when 
it came into the Union. It reserved the OAvnership of 





fe^^ i^t O-EIiiEXlCO 

Id ^ 



TEXAS AND COAHUILA IN 183O, 



360 HO W I KNO W. 

all lands within its borders, though there are not want- 
ing lawyers who assert that the general government 
might have rightfully taken those lands from the State, 
after the latter had seceded. 

Look out for those beautifully colored maps which 
divide Texas into various agricultural sections, and 
locate the " wheat lands " away up on the heads of the 
Brazos, Colorado and Red River. One can put in his 
eye all the wheat they will raise up there without an 
expansive and expensive system of irrigation, and it 
will puzzle them to find water to irrigate with. If half 
that region is fit for grazing land, it is the best we can 
expect. Southern Texas is not very suitable for North- 
ern men. Along the gulf are immense areas of fine 
sugar and cotton lands, but the climate is not favor- 
able. Not that the heat is so great; but the summers 
are long, the autumns dry, and the winters first warm, 
moist and debihtating, and then very chilly. Central 
and northern Texas are free from these disadvantages. 
The immigrant from the North must learn a new sys- 
tem of agriculture, but that he can easily do. 

Society? Well, I found it very agreeable. If there 
is any special hostility to Northern men, or Republi- 
cans, I never noticed it. The latter maintain their 
organization, sometimes elect their candidate, and 
always give him a hearty support, though the State 
has been Democratic since 1872. Texas may fairly 
claim to be one of the best governed States in the 
Union. Except on the south-western border the ratio 
of crimes is very small. In 1873 the law against 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 361 

carrying concealed weapons was strictly enforced in 
the railroad towns — a good deal more than can be 
said of any town on the Union or Kansas Pacific 
Railroads. It is in the "cow counties," in the extreme 
west and south-west, that some lawlessness still prevails. 
The law as to concealed weapons excepts those coun- 
ties, it being considered a necessity that' the vacqueros 
should go prepared for " enterprising Mexicans " and 
other cattle-thieves. If you like a wild country, that's 
the place for you, and if that is not wild enough, try 
the Comanche border. There the mountainous spurs 
put out toward the lower country, and cut it up into 
numerous little valleys. Down these spurs come the 
savages, often lying in ambush for days together in the 
scrubby timber, watching the ranches below. And all 
this time the settlers go about their usual work in 
assured safety, for there is not the slightest danger till 
after the "strike." One might walk within a rod of 
the hidden enemy and never be molested. The set- 
tlers see signs of Indians about, but feel no uneasiness; 
but once the raid is made, and the robbers on the run 
for cover, they kill all they encounter, and even slaugh- 
ter stock they cannot take away. They can get five 
or ten miles more running out of a horse than can a 
white man; and five minutes after they leave him he 
is so near dead that he cannot be forced to walk. 
When hard pressed they draw a knife, hastily make a 
few incisions in the animal's hide, and rub in salt and 
powder. As the cow-boys express it, " it puts new 
life in a hoss." 



362 HOW I KNOW. 

But when long immunity has made the settlers 
careless, there sometimes occur tragedies which thrill 
the country with horror, and are told for years by the 
pioneers' hearth-stone, or around the camp-fire, where 
rude borderers teach their younger companions eternal 
hatred of all the Indian race. In the year 1850, a 
Mississippian, named Lockhardt, settled a little farther 
up the Colorado than was then usual with families, but 
still in a region thought to be safe from Comanche 
raids; and, in a few years, was surrounded with most 
of the comforts of his more eastern home. Wealth 
and good taste united to improve the wild beauty of 
nature; his house, elegant indeed for the border, was a 
temple of hospitality; his flocks and herds ranged over 
the arena of a dukedom; his colored servants scarce 
knew they had a master, so light was his patriarchal 
sway; and far and near the name of 'Squire Lockhardt 
was known as that of a natural nobleman and Texas 
gentleman. The friendly Indians that passed that way 
also partook of his hospitality, and he made the too 
common mistake of supposing that this would shield 
him against the incursions of their wilder congeners. 
But, of all his possessions, none was so widely cele- 
brated as his daughter, Minnie. The rude vacqueros 
were charmed into unusual courtesy at sight of her; 
and, from far and near, young Texans of more pre- 
tentions sought her society. On the border, a young 
woman of beauty and accomplishments often acquires 
a wide-spread fame that would seem impossible to 
Eastern people; her graces are recounted in such fervid 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 363 

rhetoric, that the cold critic of an older community 
would think of her as a fabulous being. Even so the 
charms of Minnie Lockhardt were sung in a hundred 
camps, from the Trinity to the Colorado. 

Many other settlers, generally single men, and skillful 
frontiersmen, had located between Lockhardt and the 
staked plain, and he had long ceased to think of an 
Indian raid as even remotely possible, when suddenly, 
as lightning from a clear sky, the Indian war of 1854 
-'5 broke out; and, from the settlements on the upper 
Rio Grande, clear around to the Canadian, the border 
was in a blaze. The Utes and Apaches on the west 
pressed the Mexicans and whites, while the Coman- 
ches, from their fastnesses, carried destruction far down 
into Texas. The storm broke while Lockhardt was 
absent from home. Every settler near him was killed; 
his servants fled for their lives, and his daughter, then 
but twenty years of age, was carried into captivity. 
The frenzied father sent an appeal to his fellow- 
citizens, and it seemed that the whole Texan border 
was moved by one common impulse. Every young 
Texan who could supply himself with horse and gun 
was eager to assist in the rescue of Minnie Lockhardt; 
and, as soon as a force of two hundred had assembled, 
the father led them toward the high country, leaving 
word for the others to follow. Striking the trail of the 
Comanches, the Texans followed as fast as the strength 
of their horses would allow, their furious zeal contin- 
ually aroused anew by the sights along the way, where 
worn-out captives had been ruthlessly murdered. Sud- 



364 no W I KNO W. 

denly, at daylight, the pursuers came upon the murder- 
ers in one of those numerous canons of upper Texas, 
where the savages had thought themselves safe. 

Then ensued one of the most desperately contested 
battles of the Texan border. The Indian camp v^as 
set far back in a grove of scrubby timber, on all sides 
of which rose sandy hillocks and detached rocks, fur- 
nishing admirable lines of defense, as well as retreat. 
Again and again did the Texans, led by Lockhardt, 
penetrate almost to the camp, only to be driven back; 
and, on each advance, they distinctly heard the voice 
of Minnie calling on them for help, and dreaded lest 
their attack should be the signal for her death. But it 
appears the savages were bent on preserving their 
captive if possible. A double line of warriors sur- 
rounded the tent in which she was bound; and at last 
the wretched father, bleeding from a dozen wounds, 
was forced away by his men, who saw that the attack 
was hopeless. Having received re-inforcements, they 
renewed the fight the second day after, but the Indians 
had also collected their forces and taken a still stronger 
position; and to the father, lying helpless with his 
wounds, the men at last reported that the attack was 
hopeless, unless with a force large enough to sur- 
round the Comanche stronghold and reduce it by a 
regular siege. 

Successive bands of Texans arrived, and in a few 
days the father again urged them to the attack; but 
the Indians had managed to retreat, carrying Miss 
Lockhardt with them. With the devilishness inherent 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



365 



in the Comanche nature, they were all the more de- 
termined to keep her when they saw the general 




SKIRMISH WITH INDIANS. 



anxiety of the whites for her recovery. But she 
proved a troublesome prize. The fact of her captivity 



366 HOW I KNOW. 

nerved every Texan to desperate measures, and in a 
short time the Indians were attacked at all points, and 
forced back toward th.e Pecos. Then, as afterwards 
appeared, the band having possession of Miss Lockhardt 
sent her northward, and disposed of her to the Arapa- 
hoes. Convinced that she was the daughter of a great 
chief, by the exertions made to recapture her, this tribe 
opened negotiations with the commandants at Fort 
Union and Lancaster. But, before any thing could be 
accomplished, the Utes and Apaches were raiding the 
entire New Mexican border, and the captive girl in 
some way was transferred to the former tribe. De- 
spite the awful hardships of a winter among the sav- 
ages she survived, and in some way managed to make 
known her existence to the American commandant at 
Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico. About this time 
the Territorial Governor called out five hundred New 
Mexican volunteers, who were put under command of 
Colonel Ceran St. Vrain; and, joined by the First 
Regiment of United States Dragoons, under Colonel 
T. T. Fauntleroy, the whole force marched into the 
Indian country early in 1855. They defeated the In- 
dians in one general battle and several minor skir- 
mishes, but no trace of Miss Lockhardt could be found. 
The noted Kit Carson was then intrusted with the task 
of settling with the Utes and recovering all captives; 
but other means were at work. 

Worn down by his wounds and mental suffering, 
Lockhardt returned home in despair; but another party 
of determined men set out to find the captive, who 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



367 



had, as it appears, been taken by the Arapahoes and 
Cheyennes from the Utes, with whom they were at 
war. Again and again were the whites almost suc- 




FORT MASSACHUSETTS, NEW MEXICO, 1S55. 

cessful, and as often was the unfortunate girl hurried 
away to some more hidden fastness, almost before their 



368 HO W I KNO W. 

eyes. The general Indian war ended, and a nominal 
peace was made; negotation was again attempted, but 
the third year of her captivity came, and still nothing 
was done. At length a company of the Texan Rangers, 
having penetrated almost to the heart of the Guada- 
loupe Range, came suddenly upon a village of Coman- 
ches, and, despite the hurried flight of the savages, 
who had their own women and children with them, 
the Rangers saw among them a captive white woman. 
They charged desperately upon the savages, who fled 
in all directions, but not till one of them had buried his 
knife in the body of the girl, who was still breathing 
when the Rangers came up. It was Minnie Lock- 
hardt. She was just able to smile, as if to welcome 
the Rangers, then peacefully breathed her last. "And," 
said the weather-beaten frontiersman who gave me 
these facts, as he chocked down his emotions, "it was 
a God's blessin' she was dead, an' her father never 
seen her." For she had suffered the last terrible indig- 
nity savage malice could invent. As is common when 
a captive woman is not taken by one Indian, she be- 
came the common property of the band; and loath- 
some disease had worn her to a skeleton. Heart- 
broken and disfigured, death was to her an unmixed 
gain. Her afllicted father soon followed her to the 
grave. The Lockhardt place is now desolate; its 
dwellings burned, its tenants gone. But the chivalry 
and hospitality of the father are still the theme of local 
story, while the beauty and sorrowful fate of the 
daughter arc still told around the camp-fires and 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 369 

hearth-stones of Texas and warm anew the hearts of 
its sons to undying vengeance against the Comanches. 

Texas ends the list of the border States proper. Ob- 
serve that in all these States, as one goes west, he rises 
slowly to a higher, dryer and more barren country, till 
at last, about longtitude loo or loi, he enters on "the 
area of corrugation," as geologists call it, where bar- 
renness is the rule; and this area includes all the west- 
ern border of Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma 
and Texas, of eastern Washington, Oregon and Cali- 
lifornia, and all of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, 
Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Let us skip this 
region of mountain and desert, and pass at once to the 
fertile section of the Pacific coast, lying west of the 
Sierra Nevadas. 

California? Well, I should not be in a hurry to 
recommend it to any man of moderate means. The 
worst objection is the oppressive land monopoly. "A 
little ranche of twenty thousand acres " is a common 
expression. A dozen men each own a dukedom — all 
but the inhabitants. They will own them after awhile, 
unless this thing is remedied. The beginning of this 
system was in the Mexican grants. The old Spanish 
custom was to grant a county of land to an impresario, 
on condition that he should settle a certain number of 
families • on it. The Mexicans continued the system 
with some modifications, and in due time the inferiors 
became peons to the lord. These titles were all con- 
firmed by treaty when the United States took posses- 
sion, and have been sustained by the Supreme Court. 

24 



370 HOW I KNOW. 

Again, when the miners took the country they sup- 
posed the land to be worth but Httle except for grazing, 
and many of them took up claims and sold them for a 
trifle to speculators, and thus the best land in CaHfornia 
is now held in immense tracts by an aristocracy. Of 
course these men are in favor of "Chinese cheap 
labor," and equally, of course, the poorer whites are 
unanimously opposed to it. Some have thought that, 
as our country grew older, all the lands would be held 
in the same way; but it is somewhat reassuring to note 
that there is less land monopoly in Massachusetts than 
in Ohio, and far less in Ohio than in California. In 
some of the oldest States the land is most equally dis- 
tributed, thanks to our wise laws of descent and dis- 
tribution of estates; and in the course of fifty or a 
hundred years the attrition of a free society will wear 
out this evil in CaHfornia. 

It is now very difficult for one to get a small piece 
of land in that State; and it would be better for intend- 
ing emigrants to organize in some way, and buy out a 
grant, of which there are always a few for sale. There 
are a few places — very few I am afraid — where the 
best land is not in the hands of monopolists, and it is 
already noticeable that such communities improve faster 
than others. But for many years to come California 
will continue to be a land of the beggar and the 
prince. 

In Oregon this evil is not so great, but still great 
enough. Land in the Willamette Valley is not much 
cheaper than in Ohio and Indiana, and I cannot think 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



371 



that enough is gained to make it worth while to go so 
far. I do not see how a man, 
wife and five children — aver- 
age Western family — can get 
to Oregon comfortably for 
less than five or six hundred 
dollars, which amount would 
buy eighty acres of first-class 
land in Kansas or Nebraska, 
or a hundred acres in Texas; 
and, having got to Oregon, you 
must pay more for land than 
in the other States named, 
with a moral certainty that 
the country will develop more 
slowly. Oregon began to be 
settled by white men in 1830; 
before 1848 it contained about 
ten thousand Americans; its 
population now is about one 
hundred thousand. Kansas 
was thrown open to 
settlement only 
twenty-three years 
ago; it no\v contains 
a population of at 
least six hundred 
thousand. It strikes 
me that's the sort 
of a country to go '^ . caluokma kio thee. 




372 HOW I KNOW. 

to, if you want your future to hurry up. But, if you 
like a romantic border country — one that is likely to 
stay border for a long time — go to Oregon. Oregon 
climate? Well, some people like it. I don't. True, it 
is mild — and moist; but I am just Yankee enough to 
prefer the cold, dry winter to the warm, wet, muggy, 
and muddy. No five months' rain for me, if you 
please. I'd rather freeze than smother. In California 
it's different. There is no more rain there during the 
so-called " rainy season " than in Ohio, and half the time 
not as much. In fact, there never is too much rain in 
California, though there sometimes is too little. The 
summers in Oregon are delightful enough — more pleas- 
ant than in CaHfornia; but, as at present advised, I 
would not recommend either State to the class of em- 
igrants just now going West. 

Let us now turn to the great interior, and see if we 
can pick out any oases inviting to settlement between 
longtitude loo and the Sierra Nevadas. Nevada is not 
an agricultural State at all; and for aught we can now 
see, never will be. It contains ninety-eight thousand 
square miles, and less good land than three average 
counties in Ohio. It has population enough for one- 
third of a member of Congress; but our "paternal" 
government has granted the State one Representative 
and two Senators. Nobody need think of going there to 
engage in farming. In the far distant future, when land 
is in much greater demand than now, some v^ay will 
perhaps be found to redeem those arid tracts. Trees 
will be planted wherever they will grow; the Austra- 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 373 

lian eucalyptus may flourish even on the desert, and 
thus in a few centuries a moister atmosphere be cre- 
ated. But for the present the population must consist 
of capitahsts and laboring miners, and their congeners. 
And here I might indulge in wearying words on the 
romance and hardship of a miner's life, had I not given 
him a chapter to himself Strange it is that he should 
be the most imaginative of men with a life of such 
prosaic toil; but it is, doubtless, because his ways 
are in a path, as Job says, ''which no fowl knoweth, 
and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's 
whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed 
by it." (Job xxviii). And no finer, more poetical de- 
scription of the silver miner's strange life underground 
was ever written than in that chapter, taking Louth's 
version: "He putteth forth his hand upon the rocks, 
he swings above the depths. He cutteth out water- 
courses through the rocks; and his eye searcheth for 
precious things. He makes a ne^v way for the floods; 
he goes in the very stones of darkness in the shadow 
of death." The perils of the prospector above ground 
are equally great, but the life has its charms for all that. 
In Utah are still a few unoccupied plateaus which 
could be redeemed by canals taken out from some 
large stream. Bear River Valley contains some sixty 
thousand acres of fertile land, which might be re- 
deemed at moderate cost by a canal from Bear River. 
The climate is mild, not very hot in summer, and de- 
cidedly pleasant in winter. The Central Pacific runs 
through the valley, and the location is excellent for a 



374 HOW I KNOW. 

thriving colony. On the Sevier is a smaller valley of 
the same character. East of the Wasatch Range are 
several beautiful valleys. That of Ashley's Fork con- 
tains land enough for three thousand farms, all of most 
excellent quality; and it can be had for the taking. 
Late in 1873 ^ dozen stock ranchers settled there, and 
have raised splendid crops every year since. Be it 
noted that in no part of the temperate zone is fruit a 
more certain crop than in Utah. Peaches never fail. 
The Ashley Valley slopes gently to the south-east; snow- 
rarely lies on more than one night, and all the slopes are 
rich in bunch-grass. Game is abundant in the neighbor- 
ing hills, and a good road can easily be constructed to 
the Union Pacific at Bridger Station. The valley of 
Brush Creek, east of Ashley, is about half as large and 
equally inviting. In these a colony of ten thousand 
Americans might make for themselves delightful homes. 
Farther south are several fine valleys, none quite so 
large as the foregoing, but very fertile; and small set- 
tlements have been made in some of them. It is to be 
noted that these valleys w^hich open eastw^ard from the 
Wasatch are free from Mormon domination, and will 
remain so if settled by Gentile colonies. It has always 
seemed to me that life would be exceedingly pleasant 
in one of these alpine valleys. The elevation is about 
five thousand feet above sea-level; the winters are mild; 
the summer air dry and stimulating. There is game 
on the hills, and trout in the streams; land enough to 
produce grain for a sparse population, and almost un- 
limited grazing ground. But these districts will never 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



375 



sustain a large population. Between each settled valley 
and the next there will be a day's ride over barren 
mountain or grassy 
hill. All that part 
of Utah east of the 
Wasatch will never 
sustain a hundred 
thousand people. 

Wyoming con- 
tains so Httle farm- 
ing land that it is 
not worth while to 
discuss it; but it is 
rich in grazing 
tracts. Of the nine- 
ty-eight thousand 
square miles in this 
Territory, one-half 
is complete desert; ^ 
the rest good ^| 
grazing ground, 
with perhaps five nevada falls, yosem- 

, , ,. ITE VALLEY. 

hundred sections 

of farming land, though I never saw 

the latter and do not know where it is 

located. Of course no one pre-empts 

his grazing land; he -merely takes up 

meadow land when he can get it convenient; and 

perhaps enough farming land for a garden, if there 

is so much in the neighborhood. One year with 





376 HOW I KNOW. 

another the herder puts up hay enough for three 
months' feeding. Sometimes none of it is used, and 
then it is on hand for the next winter. About half the 
time the common stock can go through the winter 
without hay, Hving on the bunch-grass; but blooded 
stock should be fed at least two months every winter. 
By the first of May stock can live well on the range. 
From that on the grass appears to get more nourishing 
every day till December. If the wmter comes on with 
snow, grass remains good till the snow melts; but rain 
takes the sweetness out of it. It will then sustain life, 
but stock lose flesh rapidly while living on it. It re- 
quires a much larger area for the same number of 
stock than in a blue-grass country, as the grass makes 
but one growth per year, not renewing itself after being 
eaten off". From all these facts it will be apparent that 
Wyoming never can sustain a very large population. 

]>Jew Mexico? Well, I must, as candidly as may 
be, admit that I was rather disgusted with it — that is, 
for any thing else than mountains and scenery. Bear in 
mind that the central portions of New Mexico are really 
older country than Ohio. Santa Fe was founded a hun- 
dred and fifty years before Cincinnati. All the good 
land in the valleys of the Rio Grande and its tributaries 
was long ago occupied, and the grazing lands of the 
central section are taken up. West of the Rio Grande 
the country is practically worthless to a man used to 
the system of living in Ohio. The Territory has all 
the faults of an old country, and few of its virtues. As 
a stock-rancher you have but two chances of success. 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 377 

The one adopted by most live Americans is to go into 
partnership with one of the nobihty. If you have busi- 
ness abiHty and a partner who can furnish the blue 
blood, respectability, local prestige and land, you may 
in time become a capitalist, and marry ten or twenty 
thousand sheep, with an incumbrance in the shape of a 
lady, whose priest will rule her, and her father insist 
on an ante-nuptial contract that the children shall be 
reared in the "Holy Cathohc faith." The other plan 
is to go with money enough to buy a thousand sheep 
and a herd-right — that is to say, to be a capitalist your- 
self. But don't think of going to New Mexico to build 
up a fortune by hard work. The common fellows 
there can work for fifty cents a day, and live on jerked 
mutton and flour. 

If you want to lead a w^ild harum-scarum sort of 
life for a while, free from social restraints, where 
chastity is not a requisite for good society, and morals 
in general are somewhat relaxed. New Mexico is a 
splendid place to sow your wild oats. As to the crop 
to be reaped, I refer you to a very ancient authority. 
But, if you think much of yourself, better set up your 
sheep ranche in Colorado or Wyoming, w^here there is 
not such an oppressive atmosphere of genta fina^ and 
where the owner of two sheep is still one of the boys, 
and can dance with the daughter of the man who owns 
a thousand. In south-western Arizona a progressive 
community has been built up of late years, and though 
the fertile area is small, there is still room for thou- 
sands more. Colorado I have described at some 



378 HOW I KNOW. 

length in a previous chapter. It is, in my opinion, the 
most enHghtened and progressive of all the far western 
communities, though I doubt if it can ever have the 
population that Dakota will some day contain. Idaho 
I know very little about, and of Montana practically 
still less. But it is universally agreed that they are 
not agricultural Territories. There are valleys in both 
which contain considerable good land, and large graz- 
ing tracts; but mining will be the leading interest of 
both for some time. Taken as a whole, and allowing 
for every possible improvement in methods of farming 
and reclamation of desert lands, the whole vast interior, 
between longtitude loo and the Sierra Nevadas, can 
never average one acre in ten fit for the farmer; and 
not more than half the rest is of any value for timber 
or grazing. 

And can such a region ever be filled by prosperous 
States, which shall rival those of the Mississippi Val- 
ley ? Never. All calculations as to the shifting of 
political power, made on the basis of new States, rich 
and populous, are sure to miscarry. That section has 
an area greater than that of all the States east of the 
Mississippi; but its population fifty years hence will 
not be greater than that of Massachusetts. Only in 
the Senate will the relative power of the East and 
West be changed in the future, and probably very little 
there. Colorado was only admitted after a ten years' 
struggle. Nevada ought to be set back to a territorial 
condition to-da}^, if there were any constitutional way 
of doing justice. The child is not born that will live 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



379 



to see her with population enough for one congressional 
district. Here is a liberal estimate of the maximum 
population these divisions are likely to have in the 
year 1900: 

Colorado, ...... ' • 250,000 

Wyoming, ^^^^ 

Dakota, 300,000 

Idaho, ^oO'°^ 

Washington, 125,000 

Utah, ' 250,000 

New Mexico, 150,000 

Montana, 100,000 

Nevada, 75'000 

Arizona, 50.ooo 

Total, 1,500,000 

Extraordinary discoveries may enable some one of 
the mining regions to get ahead of the others, but the 
grand total cannot be greater than here set down; and 
only the most favorable contingencies can make it so 
great. The influence which this may have upon our 
social and national Hfe opens a wide field for discussion. 
The good land at the disposal of our Government is 
nearly exhausted. But a few more years and there 
will be no more virgin soil awaiting the immigrant. 
Then the half desert lands must be won with great 
toil, or we must turn back and fill up the corners 
which have been overrun in our rush for the best 
spots. Our surplus population will then have no rich 
heritao-e to look to, where a homestead can be had 
for the taking. The paternal farm in the East must 
be divided again and again, if all the boys are to have 
a share. What will be the eftect on our discontented 



380 HOW I KNOW. 

classes? Will it add a new strain to republican gov- 
ernment, and will the troubles which menace the old 
world monarchies then come upon us and find us un- 
prepared to treat them rightly? or is there yet room in 
the Eastern States for us to grow harmoniously for an- 
other century? These be momentous questions. 

Certain theorists have further troubled themselves 
about the silver supply; and timid editors and politi- 
cians have suggested that, if more bonanzas are dis- 
covered, silver will soon be " cheap enough to manu- 
ufacture into door-hinges." To such I guarantee 
comforting proofs. Let them invest heavily in unde- 
veloped silver mines, and before they get their money 
back they will be convinced that silver is still a precious 
metal — hard to get at and correspondingly valuable 
when got. One Ohio editor says: "Suppose they 
should discover a mountain of silver !" Suppose they 
should discover a mountain of ice-cream in August ! 
The one supposition is as reasonable as the other. In 
fact, the latter phenomenon would violate fewer of the 
laws of Nature than the former. Unchanging law de- 
crees that, even in the richest mineral region, there 
must be many million times as much dead rock — 
"attle," "rubble," and "country-rock" — as silver-bearing 
rock. Let silver permanently cheapen but five per 
cent, and two-thirds of the mines in the world would 
cease to be profitable. 

For another class there is comfort. Poet and ro- 
mancer, as well as hunter and tourist, have lamented 
that in so short a time the wild West would be a thing 



WHERE SHALL WE SETTLE. 



381 



of the past; that soon all would be tame, dull and 
common-place. Let them be reassured. The wild 
West will continue wild for centuries. There will be 
a million square miles of mountain, desert, rock and 
sand, of lonely gorge and hidden glen, of walled basm, 
wind-swept canon and timbered hills, to mvite the 
tourist, the sportsman and the lover of solitude. The 
mountain Territories will long remain the abode of 
romance; and "Western Wilds" will be celebrated m 
song and story, while generation succeeds generation 
of " the men who redeem them." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CONCLUSION. 



o 



N the 14th day of December, 1878, I left the 

old Los Pinos Agency for home. I came by 

way of Saguache to Del Norte on horseback. There 
I procured a ticket to Chicago for sixty-four dollars. 

Then I was suddenly roused, as by an angel's touch, 
to the bright hopes of reaching home and meeting friends 
again after the lapse of fifteen years and nearly nine 
months. All my former years, all my former school- 
mates and friendships returned to my memory, and it 
seemed as if I could not be conveyed fast enough to 
the home of my childhood. I sat for hours looking 
out of the car-windows at the vast fertile fields, cov- 



382 HOW I KNO W, 

ered at that time with a Hght snow. Everything 
seemed new and improved. Would my mother know 
me? was a question often in my mind. I wondered if 
she too had changed like everything else. 

I arrived at home on the 23d day of December, 1878. 
I came in on the home-folks by surprise. What a gay 
and happy meeting it was. How glad every one was 
to see me, and how much more happy was I to see 
them. How pleasant to sit and talk over the events 
of the past! But, oh! what changes take place in 
fifteen long years! When I was a boy I thought I 
would never be a man. Now that I am a man time 
flies on fleeting wings. I find that many who were 
once my friends and companions have passed away. 
I am no longer permitted to hear that voice to which 
once I so loved to Hsten, which was so sweet to me 
with tender words. No more may I see those friendly 
smiles which once so thrilled me with pleasure. The 
beloved form has passed away, and now lies mouldering 
among the clods of the valley. The virtues of my de- 
parted friends all come flashing back upon my kindling 
thoughts. 

I find my old Ohio friends, who are still living, bet- 
ter supplied with the luxuries and conveniences of life 
than are the people of the West, unless it be in Cali- 
fornia. Amid old friends and friendly comforts time 
speeds swiftly away. 

The 6th day of June, 1879, found me at my father's 
house. I was preparing to go to Lewisburg, not think- 
ing about this being the anniversary of my birthday. 



CONCLUSION. 3^^ 



My father rather surprised me by suddenly asking me 
to go over the place with him, to look at the corn, 
and to salt the stock. To this I readily consented, of 
course, and we were soon on our way. We left the 
house early and I thought we would soon return. But 
such I found was not my father's intention; for, after 
he had salted every animal on the place, then we must 
look at the corn; and after that we must cross clear 
over to the other side of the farm to see if the Col- 
orado potato-bugs were eating up his peach-blows. I 
was, by this time, beginning to get tired, and I am in- 
cHned to believe that, had there been any thing more 
to see, I should have gone back to the house alone. 

But when we did finally return to the house, I saw 
his object. He was keeping me out as long as possible 
to give friends and neighbors a chance to come in on 
me before I should get away from home for the day, as 
there was a surprise party arranged for my especial 
benefit. And I should be ungrateful, indeed, if on this 
occasion, when I enter upon my thirtieth year in 
the full enjoyment of health and surrounded by all 
these kind and loving friends, I did not recognize 
the Omnipotent hand that has brought me safely 
through all the trials and vicissitudes of my life up to 
the present, and has now crowned me with comfort 
and surrounded me with friends such as I never before 
enjoyed. Old and young, great and small— all are 
here. The presence of these friends and the happy 
surroundings of the day teach me that there is some- 
thing infinitely better in this world and the world to 



584 HOW I KNOW. 

come than money or position; and, by the help of the 
kind Providence that has brought me safely through 
so many dangers and trials, I will henceforth lead a 
new life, and a better one. 

My faculties were not given me to be wasted in aim- 
less inactivity, but to be kept from all that is corrupt- 
ing; to be employed in all that is useful and ennobling. 
Henceforth let my opinions and judgment of things be 
formed by a supreme regard for the will of Him who has 
cared, and still cares for me. I desire to cherish every 
right principle, to seek every honorable and useful end; 
to do what is just and true, what is humane and benev- 
olent; to set my affections only upon that which is most 
worthy to engage them, to love all that is good and to 
seek holiness and Heaven; to live for eternity, to be 
directed in all things by the word of God, and to be 
conformed to the example of Christ. Thus may I 
hope to rise into a new life of usefulness and of hap- 
piness, and to pass the remainder of my days in lov- 
ing association with my fellow-men, and be beloved by 
them. 



THE END. 



■t 



